Publication

Abstract : Bistable piezoelectric energy harvesters are used as an alternative to batteries in low-power electronic devices, wireless sensors, and wearable devices. However, their energy harvesting capabilities are limited. Performance enhancement methods for bistable energy harvesters (BEHs) with symmetric potential well have been investigated in detail in the literature. Due to the eccentricity of the buckled beam and repulsive forces due to magnetic interaction, the performance enhancement of BEHs with asymmetric potential function remains an open challenge. In this paper, the performance enhancement of a BEH with asymmetric potential function with an elastic magnifier (EM) is proposed to enhance the harvesting capability under low amplitude external excitation. The effect of stiffness and mass ratio on the dynamics and energy harvesting performance of the proposed system is investigated numerically and analytically. The proposed system is compared to asymmetric BEH and symmetric BEH with an EM, and it is revealed that the proposed system has a large interwell motion, which leads to greater energy harvesting. To identify the regions of co-existing solutions, basins of attraction are obtained for the proposed system.