Energy Harvesting Devices Using Macro-fiber Composite Materials

This study addresses the experimental validation of a design methodology for an energy harvesting device utilizing macro-fiber composite (MFC) materials. The energy harvesting device is composed of a cantilever beam with MFC elements, a tip mass, a rectifier, and an electrical resistance. A theoretical model of the energy harvesting device was developed for the estimation of generated power, voltage, and current under sinusoidal base excitation at its first natural frequency, and its performance verified via experiment. A parametric study was performed to gain insight into methods to maximize generated power and current based on perturbations to beam thickness, length, width, and density. Performance characteristics of the energy harvesting device utilizing two types of MFC patches (d 31 - and d 33 -types) were experimentally evaluated under different acceleration levels. In addition, the effects of beam thickness, natural frequency, and electrical resistance were experimentally investigated.