Modeling, Analysis and Experimental Validation of an Electromagnetic Energy Harvesting Unit

Vibration energy harvesting devices have been widely used to power many electronic self-sustainable devices. Most traditional linear energy harvesters exploit the phenomenon of resonance to produce electric power. Nonlinear energy harvesters however present more interesting alternatives and have demonstrated capabilities to harvest power over a wider range of frequencies due to characteristics such as bifurcation. The aim of this study is to introduce an alternative design to nonlinear electromagnetic energy harvesting devices to improve the power production of the unit. The configuration presented in the current work has more degrees of freedom compared to some previously designed devices, and has demonstrated higher power efficiency over a wider range of frequencies. The power outputs for both previous and current designs are compared and validated against their experimental values. Finally, the validated numerical model is used to find the optimal design to produce the maximum power.