Acoustic energy harvesting using an electromechanical Helmholtz resonator

This paper presents the development of an acoustic energy harvester using an electromechanical Helmholtz resonator (EMHR). The EMHR consists of an orifice, cavity, and a piezoelectric diaphragm. Acoustic energy is converted to mechanical energy when sound incident on the orifice generates an oscillatory pressure in the cavity, which in turns causes the vibration of the diaphragm. The conversion of acoustic energy to electrical energy is achieved via piezoelectric transduction in the diaphragm of the EMHR. Moreover, the diaphragm is coupled with energy reclamation circuitry to increase the efficiency of the energy conversion. Lumped element modeling of the EMHR is used to provide physical insight into the coupled energy domain dynamics governing the energy reclamation process. The feasibility of acoustic energy reclamation using an EMHR is demonstrated in a plane wave tube for two power converter topologies. The first is comprised of only a rectifier, and the second uses a rectifier connected to a flyback converter to improve load matching. Experimental results indicate that approximately 30 mW of output power is harvested for an incident sound pressure level of 160 dB with a flyback converter. Such power level is sufficient to power a variety of low power electronic devices.     

Piezo-driven thermoacoustic refrigerators with dynamic magnifiers

Thermoacoustic refrigeration is an emerging cooling technology which does not rely for in its operation on the use of any moving parts or harmful refrigerants. This technology uses acoustic waves to pump heat across a temperature gradient. The temperature gradient forms across the ends of a porous body, called the stack, enclosed in a resonator. The vast majority of thermoacoustic refrigerators to date have used electromagnetic loudspeakers to generate the acoustic input. In this paper, the design, construction, operation, and modeling of a piezo-driven thermoacoustic refrigerator are detailed. The performance of the refrigerator is significantly enhanced by coupling the acoustic driver with an elastic structure, referred to as a dynamic magnifier. Proper selection of the magnifier parameters can increase the magnitude of the pressure oscillations across the stack, and consequently the temperature difference. The magnified refrigerator demonstrates the effectiveness of piezoelectric actuation in moving 0.3 W of heat across a 10 °C temperature difference with an input power of 7 W. All the theoretical predictions are validated against data from experimental prototypes. The developed theoretical and experimental tools can serve as invaluable means for the design and testing of piezo-driven thermoacoustic refrigerator configurations.     

采用Helmholtz共鸣器与悬臂梁压电换能器的声能采集器研究

针对环境中广泛存在的声能,提出了一种采用Helmholtz共鸣器和悬臂梁压电换能器的声能采集器。Helmholtz共鸣器对入射声压进行放大,放大后的声压引起共鸣器弹性薄壁振动,薄壁的振动传递到压电换能器产生电能输出。建立了带弹性壁的立方形共鸣器的等效集中参数理论模型,并与压电换能器的机电特性结合,分析了声能采集器的声-机-电转换原理,研究了声压、声波频率和负载阻抗对输出功率的影响,研究结果为此类声能采集器的优化设计及工程应用提供了一种可行的方法。实验中,声源通过声波导管输出声能,当共鸣器管口处的声压级为94 dB时,系统实测最大输出功率达240μW。该采集器不仅可作为声能自供能采集器,还可在较远距离为低能耗电子装置进行有源声供能。      

Broadband energy harvesting via magnetic coupling between two movable magnets

Harvesting energy from ambient mechanical vibrations by the piezoelectric effect has been proposed for powering microelectromechanical systems and replacing batteries that have a finite life span. A conventional piezoelectric energy harvester （PEH） is usually designed as a linear resonator, and suffers from a narrow operating bandwidth. To achieve broadband energy harvesting, in this paper we introduce a concept and describe the realization of a novel nonlinear PEH. The proposed PEH consists of a primary piezoelectric cantilever beam coupled to an auxiliary piezoelectric cantilever beam through two movable magnets. For predicting the nonlinear response from the proposed PEH, lumped parameter models are established for the two beams. Both simulation and experiment reveal that for the primary beam, the introduction of magnetic coupling can expand the operating bandwidth as well as improve the output voltage. For the auxiliary beam, the magnitude of the output voltage is slightly reduced, but additional output is observed at off-resonance frequencies. Therefore, broadband energy harvesting can be obtained from both the primary beam and the auxiliary beam.     

Coupled magneto-electro-mechanical lumped parameter model for a novel vibration-based magneto-electro-elastic energy harvesting systems

The objective of this paper is to present a coupled magneto-electro-mechanical (MEM) lumped parameter model for the response of the proposed magneto-electro-elastic (MEE) energy harvesting systems under base excitation. The proposed model can be used to create self-powering systems, which are not limited to a finite battery energy. As a novel approach, the MEE composites are used instead of the conventional piezoelectric materials in order to enhance the harvested electrical power. The considered structure consists of a MEE layer deposited on a layer of non-MEE material, in the framework of unimorph cantilever bars (longitudinal displacement) and beams (transverse displacement). To use the generated electrical potential, two electrodes are connected to the top and bottom surfaces of the MEE layer. Additionally, a stationary external coil is wrapped around the vibrating structure to induce a voltage in the coil by the magnetic field generated in the MEE layer. In order to simplify the design procedure of the proposed energy harvester and obtain closed form solutions, a lumped parameter model is prepared. As a first step in modeling process, the governing constitutive equations, Gauss's and Faraday's laws, are used to derive the coupled MEM differential equations. The derived equations are then solved analytically to obtain the dynamic behavior and the harvested voltages and powers of the proposed energy harvesting systems. Finally, the influences of the parameters that affect the performance of the MEE energy harvesters such as excitation frequency, external resistive loads and number of coil turns are discussed in detail. The results clearly show the benefit of the coil circuit implementation, whereby significant increases in the total useful harvested power as much as 38% and 36% are obtained for the beam and bar systems, respectively.     

Tunable bulk acoustic wave resonators with the induced piezoelectric effect in a ferroelectric

An electromechanical model of the piezoelectric effect induced in an acoustic resonator based on a ferroelectric film under the action of a dc or weak ac voltage is developed. The basic equation is obtained by expansion of the free energy in a series with respect to the electric induction and the mechanical deformation. The system of electromechanical equations for variable components of the induction and the mechanical deformation involves all linear terms along with the component of the electrostriction nonlinear with respect to the mechanical deformation. These electromechanical equations made it possible to obtain a one-dimensional approximation for the effective parameters of the material: the piezoelectric modulus and the elastic modulus as a function of the strength of the electric field applied to the acoustic layer. Expressions for the controlled electromechanical coupling coefficient and resonance frequencies of the tunable acoustic resonator are found. It is shown that the most significant parameter responsible for the tuning is the nonlinear electros-triction coefficient M, whose magnitude and sign were evaluated from the available experimental data.     

Fokker–Planck equation analysis of randomly excited nonlinear energy harvester

The probability structure of the response and energy harvested from a nonlinear oscillator subjected to white noise excitation is investigated by solution of the corresponding Fokker–Planck (FP) equation. The nonlinear oscillator is the classical double well potential Duffing oscillator corresponding to the first mode vibration of a cantilever beam suspended between permanent magnets and with bonded piezoelectric patches for purposes of energy harvesting. The FP equation of the coupled electromechanical system of equations is derived. The finite element method is used to solve the FP equation giving the joint probability density functions of the response as well as the voltage generated from the piezoelectric patches. The FE method is also applied to the nonlinear inductive energy harvester of Daqaq and the results are compared. The mean square response and voltage are obtained for different white noise intensities. The effects of the system parameters on the mean square voltage are studied. It is observed that the energy harvested can be enhanced by suitable choice of the excitation intensity and the parameters. The results of the FP approach agree very well with Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS) results.     

Calculation of acoustic energy trapping in resonators based on isotropic and nanoceramic materials

The problem of acoustic energy trapping in a microwave resonator structure operating on the basis of acoustic waves and containing a relatively thick nanoceramic plate, which has a piezoelectric film with electrodes on its surface, is solved. For a composite resonator structure made on the basis of isotropic substrates and nanoceramics, formulas are derived that allow one to choose the thicknesses of its layers to obtain a high Q factor at a desired frequency.     

Vibration confinement and energy harvesting in flexible structures using collocated absorbers and piezoelectric devices

We propose an optimal design for supplementing flexible structures with a set of absorbers and piezoelectric devices for vibration confinement and energy harvesting. We assume that the original structure is sensitive to vibrations and that the absorbers are the elements where the vibration energy is confined and then harvested by means of piezoelectric devices. The design of the additional mechanical and electrical components is formulated as a dynamic optimization problem in which the objective function is the total energy of the uncontrolled structure. The locations, masses, stiffnesses, and damping coefficients of these absorbers and capacitances, load resistances, and electromechanical coupling coefficients are optimized to minimize the total energy of the structure. We use the Galerkin procedure to discretize the equations of motion that describe the coupled dynamics of the flexible structure and the added absorbers and harvesting devices. We develop a numerical code that determines the unknown parameters of a pre-specified set of absorbers and harvesting components. We input a set of initial values for these parameters, and the code updates them while minimizing the total energy in the uncontrolled structure. To illustrate the proposed design, we consider a simply supported beam with harmonic external excitations. Here, we consider two possible configurations for each of the additional piezoelectric devices, either embedded between the structure and the absorbers or between the ground and absorbers. We present simulations of the harvested power and associated voltage for each pair of collocated absorber and piezoelectric device. The simulated responses of the beam show that its energy is confined and harvested simultaneously.     

A low frequency piezoelectric power harvester using a spiral-shaped bimorph

We propose a spiral-shaped piezoelectric bimorph power harvester operating with coupled flexural and extensional vibration modes for applications to low frequency energy sources. A theoretical analysis is performed and the computational results show that the spiral structure has relatively low operating frequency compared to beam power harvesters of the same size. It is found that to optimize the performance of a piezoelectric spiral-shaped harvester careful design is needed.     

An investigation into the simultaneous use of a resonator as an energy harvester and a vibration absorber

A mass–spring–damper system is at the core of both a vibration absorber and a harvester of energy from ambient vibrations. If such a device is attached to a structure that has a high impedance, then it will have very little effect on the vibrations of the structure, but it can be used to convert mechanical vibrations into electrical energy (act as an energy harvester). However, if the same device is attached to a structure that has a relatively low impedance, then the device may attenuate the vibrations as it may act as both a vibration absorber and an energy harvester simultaneously. In this paper such a device is discussed. Two situations are considered; the first is when the structure is excited with broadband random excitation and the second is when the structure is excited by a single frequency. The optimum parameters of the device for both energy harvesting and vibration attenuation are discussed for these two cases. For random excitation it is found that if the device is optimized for vibration suppression, then this is also adequate for maximizing the energy absorbed (harvested), and thus a single device can effectively suppress vibration and harvest energy at the same time. For single frequency excitation this is found not to be the case. To maximize the energy harvested, the natural frequency of the system (host structure and absorber) has to coincide with the forcing frequency, but to minimize vibration of the host structure, the natural frequency of the absorber has to coincide with the forcing frequency. In this case, therefore, a single resonator cannot effectively suppress vibration and harvest energy at the same time.     

Nonlinear vibration control and energy harvesting of a beam using a nonlinear energy sink and a piezoelectric device

This paper presents an optimal design for a system comprising a nonlinear energy sink (NES) and a piezoelectric-based vibration energy harvester attached to a free–free beam under shock excitation. The energy harvester is used for scavenging vibration energy dissipated by the NES. Grounded and ungrounded configurations are examined and the systems parameters are optimized globally to both maximize the dissipated energy by the NES and increase the harvested energy by piezoelectric element. A satisfactory amount of energy has been harvested as electric power in both configurations. The realization of nonlinear vibration control through one-way irreversible nonlinear energy pumping and optimizing the system parameters result in acquiring up to 78 percent dissipation of the grounded system energy.     

Optimal acoustic fields in compact thermoacoustic refrigerators

Thermoacoustic refrigerators have been developed during the last 15 years, employing quasi-standing resonant acoustic waves inside fluid-filled cavities to transfer heat along a stack region. Because higher efficiency can be reached when a significant travelling wave component exists in the resonator, specific resonant thermoacoustic devices have been designed allowing to adjust more or less the ratio of travelling and standing wave components. However, the acoustic pressure field and the particle velocity field do not appear to be the optimal ones, for the thermal quantities of interest. Thus, it is the aim of the paper to present a new kind of thermoacoustic standing wave-like device which allows to control easily and independently the pressure field and the particle velocity field, after investigating the optimal acoustic field, in the stack region, for the main parameters of interest, i.e. the temperature gradient, the thermoacoustic heat flow and the coefficient of performance.     

Specific propagation directions of acoustic waves for piezoelectric and nonpiezoelectric media

I reanalyze the problem of the existence of longitudinal normals inside the symmetry planes of piezoelectric crystals belonging to the symmetry class mm2. The equations determining components of longitudinal normals situated outside the symmetry planes for media of this symmetry are discussed. It is proven that nonpiezoelectric media of rhombic symmetry could have 4 or 8 distinct acoustic axes. Examples of nonpiezoelectric elastic media of monoclinic symmetry without acoustic axes are given. The method of determination of the components of acoustic axes for piezoelectric media of arbitrary symmetry is presented. With the help of this method, I discuss the problem of acoustic axes for piezoelectric media of the symmetry class mm2. The text was submitted by the author in English.     

封闭腔体噪声控制中亥姆霍兹共振器的优化设计方法

提出用亥姆霍兹共振器控制声腔内噪声时计算共振器最优阻尼比和最优工作带宽的理论公式,并进行实验验证。首先,建立共振器与待控腔体的声学耦合方程,以最小化腔体内目标声压幅值为参考,对共振器的阻尼比和工作带宽进行理论分析,求出最优阻尼比和最优工作带宽的计算公式。接着,提出在声腔噪声控制中使用最优亥姆霍兹共振器的实施步骤。最后,以一维声学腔体内的噪声为控制对象,通过对比控制前后的理论结果与实测数据,验证最优阻尼比和最优工作带宽的理论公式。结果表明,本文开发的亥姆霍兹共振器优化设计方法能准确地预报共振器的最优阻尼比与最优工作带宽,在声腔中低频噪声控制中有广泛的应用前景。      

Observation of traveling thermoacoustic shock waves (L)

Shock waves were explored in the thermoacoustic spontaneous gas oscillations occurring in a gas column with a steep temperature gradient. The results show that a periodic shock occurs in the traveling wave mode in a looped tube but not in the standing wave mode in a resonator. Measurements of the harmonic components of the acoustic intensity reveal a clear difference between them. The temperature gradient acts as an acoustic energy source for the harmonic components of the shock wave in the traveling wave mode but as an acoustic energy sink of the second harmonic in the standing wave mode.     

Energy flow measurements in acoustic waves in a duct

Where, how much and how efficiently the energy conversion takes place in a regenerator of a thermoacoustic engine are expressed using the axial distribution of acoustic work flow and heat flow. As a first step in determining the energy flows inside the regenerator, measuring methods of the work flow are briefly described and the experimental results in an acoustic resonator are shown. Applicability of these methods to the regenerator is discussed.     

Output response identification in a multistable system for piezoelectric energy harvesting

In this paper we examine in detail the multiple responses of a novel vibrational energy harvester composed of a vertical bistable beam whose complex non-linear behavior is tuned via magnetic interaction. The beam was excited horizontally by a harmonic inertial force while mechanical vibrational energy is converted to electrical power through a piezoelectric element. The bistable laminate beam coupled to the piezoelectric transducer showed a variety of complex responses in terms of the beam displacement and harvested power output. The range of vibration patterns in this non-linear system included single-well oscillations and snap-through vibrations of periodic and chaotic character. Harvested power was found to be strongly dependent on the vibration pattern with nonlinearities providing a broadband response for energy harvesting. Wavelet analysis of measured voltage, displacement and velocity time histories indicated the presence of a variety of nonlinear periodic and also chaotic phenomena. To measure the complexity of response time series we applied phase portraits and determine stroboscopic points and multiscale entropy. It is demonstrated that by changing parameters such as the magnetic interaction, the characteristics of the bistable laminate harvester, such as the natural frequency, bandwidth, vibration response and peak power can be readily tailored for harvesting applications.     

Experimental passive self-tuning behavior of a beam resonator with sliding proof mass

A passively self-tuning resonator configuration is presented in this study. Three different prototype beam–mass systems were built and tested and all successfully displayed passive self-tuning behavior when driven by vibrations at frequencies ranging from 45 to 140 Hz and accelerations ranging from 0.007 to 2g. All three systems were able to achieve tuning within their operating regime when driven at a single frequency, as well as maintain a tuned condition as frequency was stepped up or down, demonstrating a bandwidth between 6 and 40 Hz. One application of such a passively self-tuning system is in vibration energy harvesting, where it is critical for performance that the harvester device resonance frequency matches the input vibration frequency, yet the input frequency may change over time and is not known a priori. The self-tuning resonator demonstrated in this paper can enable the energy harvesting system to adjust to the varying input frequencies and thereby increase the energy harvested over time.     

Modelling nonlinearity in piezoceramic transducers: From equations to nonlinear equivalent circuits

Quadratic nonlinear equations of a piezoelectric element under the assumptions of 1D vibration and weak nonlinearity are derived by the perturbation theory. It is shown that the nonlinear response can be represented by controlled sources that are added to the classical hexapole used to model piezoelectric ultrasonic transducers. As a consequence, equivalent electrical circuits can be used to predict the nonlinear response of a transducer taking into account the acoustic loads on the rear and front faces. A generalisation of nonlinear equivalent electrical circuits to cases including passive layers and propagation media is then proposed. Experimental results, in terms of second harmonic generation, on a coupled resonator are compared to theoretical calculations from the proposed model.