Performance of bistable piezoelectric cantilever vibration energy harvesters with an elastic support external magnet

Abstract

Based on the research results of conventional rigid support nonlinear energy harvesters, in this paper we conceive a kind of structure with an elastic support external magnet with the intent to keep the system in the state of bistable oscillation, even under low-intensity excitation conditions. It has been proved that elastic support systems have better power output performance than rigid support systems when excited at low-intensity vibrations. In addition, elastic support nonlinear energy harvesters do not need real-time adjustment of the magnet interval towards the variable-intensity random excitation source, consequently achieving maximum power output and sufficient electromechanical energy conversion of the system. © 2014 IOP Publishing Ltd.