Using Nonlinear Effects to Improve Vibration-Based Energy Harvesting

Ana Carolina Cellular¹; Marcelo A. Savi¹

¹ Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro/COOPE

doi:10.20906/CPS/COB-2015-0994

Resumo

Vibration-based energy harvesting has the main objective to convert available mechanical energy from the environment to electrical energy. Piezoelectric materials are usually employed to promote the mechanical-electrical conversion. This work investigates the influence of nonlinear effects in vibration-based energy harvesting. Mechanical nonlinearities are treated in monostable and bistable Duffing oscillator. System performance is evaluated by considering different system characteristics. Numerical simulations are carried out considering different kinds of responses, including periodic and chaotic regimes. The system performance is monitored considering the generated power showing the most efficient kinds of behaviors for energy harvesting purposes.

Palavras-chave: Numerical simulation; Nonlinear dynamics; Energy harvesting; Piezoelectric