Effects of introducing nonlinear components for a random excited hybrid energy harvester. (15th December 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zhou, Xiaoya; Gao, Shiqiao; Liu, Haipeng; Guan, Yanwei
• Is Part Of: Smart materials and structures. Volume 26:Number 1(2017:Jan.)
• Publication Date: 2016-12-15
• Subjects: hybrid energy harvester -- nonlinearity -- output charateristic -- Fokker–Planck theory -- random excitation; Smart materials -- Periodicals; Strucural design -- Periodicals; 620.11
• DOI: 10.1088/1361-665X/26/1/015008
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0964-1726

Abstract

Abstract: This work is mainly devoted to discussing the effects of introducing nonlinear components for a hybrid energy harvester under random excitation. For two different types of nonlinear hybrid energy harvesters subjected to random excitation, the analytical solutions of the mean output power, voltage and current are derived from Fokker–Planck (FP) equations. Monte Carlo simulation exhibits qualitative agreement with FP theory, showing that load values and excitation's spectral density have an effect on the total mean output power, piezoelectric (PE) power and electromagnetic power. Nonlinear components affect output characteristics only when the PE capacitance of the hybrid energy harvester is non-negligible. Besides, it is also demonstrated that for this type of nonlinear hybrid energy harvesters under random excitation, introducing nonlinear components can improve output performances effectively.