Bandwidth and power enhancement in the MEMS-based piezoelectric energy harvester using magnetic tip mass

Abstract

In this paper, the performance and frequency bandwidth of the piezoelectric energy harvester (PZEH) is improved by introducing two permanent magnets attached to the proof mass of a dual beam structure. Both magnets are in the vicinity of each other and attached in such a way to proof mass of a dual beam so that they create a magnetic field around each other. The generated magnetic field develops a repulsive force between the magnets, which improves electrical output and enhances the bandwidth of the harvester. The simple rectangular cantilever structure with and without magnetic tip mass has a frequency bandwidth of 4 Hz and 4.5 Hz, respectively. The proposed structure generates a peak voltage of 20 V at a frequency of 114.51 Hz at an excitation acceleration of 1 g (g= 9.8 m/s2 ). The peak output power of a proposed structure is 25.5 µW. The operational frequency range of a proposed dual beam cantilever with a magnetic tip mass of 30 mT is from 102.51 Hz to 120.51 Hz, i.e., 18 Hz. The operational frequency range of a dual beam cantilever without magnetic tip mass is from 104.18 Hz to 118.18 Hz, i.e., 14 Hz. There is an improvement of 22.22% in the frequency bandwidth of the proposed dual beam cantilever with a magnetic tip mass of 30 mT than the dual beam without magnetic tip mass.