Nonlinear Modeling and Analysis of a Vertical Springless Energy Harvester

University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

^a e-mail: mbendame@uwaterloo.ca

Abstract

Harvesting energy from ambient sources has attracted the attention of researchers and scientists over the last few decades. While solar, thermal and wind energies have been exploited over the years, a new type of energy that has emerged in recent years, and is the subject of many research projects, is vibration energy harvesting. In this paper we will describe and analyze a recently proposed vibration energy harvester, namely the “Springless” vibration energy harvester. In this study, we will model and analyze the “Springless” vibration energy harvester in the vertical configuration. The vertically-aligned configuration is used when vibrations are predominantly in the vertical direction. Test results of a prototype model as well as results form a mathematical model describing the behavior of the harvester are presented. Test results show that the “Springless” energy vibration harvester behaves as a softening nonlinear oscillator for excitations above 0:2g with its center frequency shifting to the right. Similar results were obtained using a mathematical model of the underlying impact oscillator.