Dynamics and performance evaluation of a self-tuning multistable shape memory energy harvester

Abstract

Multistable energy harvesting has been extensively developed to scavenge energy from mechanical oscillations. Hence, the current multistable harvester only has a fixed device which cannot adapt to changing circumstanced incentives. Therefore, it does not operate well under the wide region of external excitations frequencies in variable complex environments. To overcome the vital issue, in this paper we explored a novel energy harvester with shape memory to collect energy induced by the excitation with variational frequency, which possess the characteristic of multistable nonlinear restoring force. The nonlinear restoring force is represented by using a polynomial model with variational temperature, which can adapt to variational circumstance. The static and dynamic behaviors of the harvester are analyzed. It is shown that the shape memory energy harvester has three configurations at different temperatures, namely monostable, bistable and tristable. The three categories of harvesters are characterized by the form of their potential function. The captured performance of the presented energy harvester under three different types is contrasted; the results revealed that bistability can be applied to enhance the steady-state bandwidth considerably. Furthermore, the effect of circuit parameters on the scavenged voltage and power is discussed.