Optimum design of an Electromagnetic energy harvester from a vibration absorption system

Abstract

This paper presents optimum design approach of an electromagnetic (EM) transducer in vibration absorber system during energy harvesting application. It is well known that when the natural frequency of absorber matches with excitation frequency, maximum amount of vibration energy transfer takes place. Here, an absorber system is represented by an equivalent single degree of freedom formulation. The amplitude reduction of primary system is the main concern along with maximum power output recovery from EM transducer. The effective objective function is formulated in terms of absorber parameters as well as the load resistance of EM circuit. Box complex optimization is implemented to obtain the optimal parameters. The optimum parameters obtained are employed and the output power harvested from the circuit is measured numerically. Results are presented for test case of the system subjected to base harmonic excitation.