Tunable vibration energy harvester for condition monitoring of maritime gearboxes

Abstract

This paper reports on a new tuning concept, which enables the operation of a vibration generator for energy autonomous condition monitoring of maritime gearboxes. The tuning concept incorporates a circular tuning magnet, which interacts with a coupling magnet attached to the active transducer element. The tuning range can be tailored to the application by careful design of the gap between tuning magnet and coupling magnet. A total rotation angle of only 180° is required for the tuning magnet in order to obtain the full frequency bandwidth. The tuning concept is successfully demonstrated by charging a 0.6 F capacitor on the basis of physical vibration profiles taken from a gearbox.