An ultralow-frequency high-efficiency rotational energy harvester with bistability principle and magnetic plucking mechanism

Abstract

In this paper, we propose an energy harvester that overcomes the bottleneck problem under ultralow-frequency rotational motion. The harvester consists of bistable dual piezoelectric energy harvesters (BD-PEH) with the magnetic plucking mechanism. The driving magnet is introduced to provide the magnetic plucking to BD-PEH. Therefore, the BD-PEH can operate at high-frequency vibrations across the potential well under ultralow-frequency rotation, which enhances energy harvesting efficiency. A numerical model of the harvester is developed, and the model results are in agreement with the experimental results. The effect of the depth of the potential well on the performance of the harvester is analyzed. The deeper the potential well, the higher the energy output, but it will reduce the bandwidth of the harvester. The experimental results show that the highest average power output is 0.81 mW at 1.2 Hz. In conclusion, the energy harvester proposed in this paper can generate enough energy to drive low-power electronic devices under ultralow-frequency rotational motion.