Modeling and design of Galfenol unimorph energy harvesters

Zhangxian Deng, Marcelo J. Dapino

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

36 Scopus citations

Abstract

This article investigates the modeling and design of vibration energy harvesters that utilize irongallium (Galfenol) as a magnetoelastic transducer. Galfenol unimorphs are of particular interest; however, advanced models and design tools are lacking for these devices. Experimental measurements are presented for various unimorph beam geometries. A maximum average power density of 24.4mW cm-3 and peak power density of 63.6mW cm-3 are observed. A modeling framework with fully coupled magnetoelastic dynamics, formulated as a 2D finite element model, and lumped-parameter electrical dynamics is presented and validated. A comprehensive parametric study considering pickup coil dimensions, beam thickness ratio, tip mass, bias magnet location, and remanent flux density (supplied by bias magnets) is developed for a 200 Hz, 9.8m s-2 amplitude harmonic base excitation. For the set of optimal parameters, the maximum average power density and peak power density computed by the model are 28.1 and 97.6mW cm-3, respectively.

Original languageEnglish
Article number125019
JournalSmart Materials and Structures
Volume24
Issue number12
DOIs
StatePublished - 5 Nov 2015

Keywords

  • energy harvesting
  • Galfenol
  • unimorph

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