Recently, vibrational energy harvesting has been considered a promising alternative to batteries for powering microsystems for large wireless sensor network applications. However, ambient vibrations are below 100 Hz, while most machines and equipment operate relatively at high frequencies (more than 70 Hz). Herein, we propose a theoretical study to harvest energy from high frequencies using a frequency-down bistable piezoelectric energy harvester mechanism. We investigate the energy harvesting benefit in the down-conversion of a high-frequency signal to a low-frequency signal utilizing magnetic coupling. A high-frequency driving beam triggers a low-frequency generating beam. We use a spring-mass-damper equivalent model to understand the operation mechanism of the proposed piezoelectric vibration energy harvester. Based on the theoretical model, the static and dynamic effect of magnetic nonlinearity on the performance of the proposed piezoelectric vibration energy harvester is numerically analyzed. The targeted applications are the down-conversion and the filtering of high frequencies and mass sensing, particularly the harvester's behavior for mass sensing applications.

Energy harvesting effectively powers micro-sensors and wireless applications. However, higher frequency oscillations do not overlap with ambient vibrations, and low power can be harvested. This paper utilizes vibro-impact triboelectric energy harvesting for frequency up-conversion. Two magnetically coupled cantilever beams with low and high natural frequencies are used. The two beams have identical tip magnets at the same polarity. A triboelectric energy harvester is integrated with the high-frequency beam to generate an electrical signal via contact-separation impact motion between the triboelectric layers. An electrical signal is generated at the low-frequency beam range achieving frequency up-converter. The two degrees of freedom (2DOF) lumped-parameter model system is used to investigate the system’s dynamic behavior and the corresponding voltage signal. The static analysis of the system revealed a threshold distance of 15 mm that divides the system into monostable and bistable regimes. In the monostable and bistable regimes, softening and hardening behaviors were observed at low frequencies. Additionally, the threshold voltage generated was increased by 1117% in comparison with the monostable regime. The simulation findings were experimentally validated. The study demonstrates the potential of using triboelectric energy harvesting in frequency up-converting applications.

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