Broadband concept of energy harvesting in beam vibrating systems for powering sensors

Recent demand for powering small sensors for wireless health monitoring triggered activities in the field of small size efficient energy harvesting devices. We examine energy harvesting in an aluminium beam with a piezoceramic patch subjected to kinematic harmonic excitation and impacts. Due to a mechanical stopper applied, inducing a hardening effect in the spring characteristic of the beam resonator, we observed a broader frequency range for the fairly large power output. Impact nonlinearities caused sensitivity to initial conditions and appearance of multiple solutions. The occurrence of resonant solution associated with impacts increased efficiency of the energy harvesting process.