Equivalent electromechanical circuit analysis models provide efficient tools for analysis of power flow across multiple physical domains. In this work, we use this tool to develop a model of the power flow through mechanical, magnetic and electrical domains for analysis of magnetostrictive material-based devices. The magnetostrictive unimorph system in this study consists of a magnetostrictive galfenol (Fe-Ga alloy) layer bonded to a non-magnetic flexible metal layer, a pickup coil wound around the bimetallic strip and an electrical load. Permanent magnets are used to set a magnetic bias field and to provide a tip mass load at the free end of the cantilevered unimorph. The electrical load is connected to the pickup coil, such that vibration in the magnetostrictive alloy layer caused by the vibrating structure generates electrical energy that is dissipated by the electrical load, thereby damping the vibrations in the structure. The pickup coil output voltage varies with fluctuation in the magnetic flux density due to vibration of the beam.
The electrical load discussed in this paper includes an inductance and a resistor (work that also includes capacitance is on-going). An electromechanical circuit model of the electrically loaded magnetostrictive unimorph system is used to study system dynamics. For this purpose the circuit description is simplified by a transformation of the electrical and magnetic elements into the mechanical domain. The network model of this system and simulations of its dynamic behavior are presented.
