Energy harvesting using a magnetostrictive transducer based on switching control

Abstract

In this works we propose a switching control energy harvesting method using magnetostrictive materials. By combining a magnetostrictive material, an electric circuit, and an electronic switch, large-scale kinetic to electrical energy conversion can be achieved. The magnetostrictive material, magnet bias, and coils constitute an energy transducer, called a magnetostrictive transducer. The electronic switch strategically controls the switching of the circuit state according to an input switching signal. Using numerical simulations, we optimised the parameters and validated the harvesting performance with experimental measurements using a 3.75 m vibrated cantilever truss structure. In 20.0 s, the proposed method achieved an electrical energy of approximately 45 μJ, which is seven times more than that of the conventional passive method.