TY - JOUR
T1 - Harvesting energy from vibrations of the underlying structure
AU - Han, Bo
AU - Vassilaras, Spyridon
AU - Papadias, Constantinos B.
AU - Soman, Rohan
AU - Kyriakides, Marios A.
AU - Onoufriou, Toula
AU - Nielsen, Rasmus H.
AU - Prasad, Ramjee
PY - 2013/11
Y1 - 2013/11
N2 - The use of wireless sensors for structural health monitoring offers several advantages such as small size, easy installation and minimal intervention on existing structures. However the most significant concern about such wireless sensors is the lifetime of the system, which depends heavily on the type of power supply. No matter how energy efficient the operation of a battery operated sensor is, the energy of the battery will be exhausted at some point. In order to achieve a virtually unlimited lifetime, the sensor node should be able to recharge its battery in an easy way. Energy harvesting emerges as a technique that can harvest energy from the surrounding environment. Among all possible energy harvesting solutions, kinetic energy harvesting seems to be the most convenient, especially for sensors placed on structures that experience regular vibrations. Such micro-vibrations can be harmful to the long-term structural health of a building or bridge, but at the same time they can be exploited as a power source to power the wireless sensors that are monitoring this structural health. This paper presents a new energy harvesting method based on a vibration driven electromagnetic harvester. By using an improved Maximum Power Point Tracking technique on the conversion circuit, the proposed method is shown to maximize the conversion coefficient from kinetic energy to applicable electrical energy.
AB - The use of wireless sensors for structural health monitoring offers several advantages such as small size, easy installation and minimal intervention on existing structures. However the most significant concern about such wireless sensors is the lifetime of the system, which depends heavily on the type of power supply. No matter how energy efficient the operation of a battery operated sensor is, the energy of the battery will be exhausted at some point. In order to achieve a virtually unlimited lifetime, the sensor node should be able to recharge its battery in an easy way. Energy harvesting emerges as a technique that can harvest energy from the surrounding environment. Among all possible energy harvesting solutions, kinetic energy harvesting seems to be the most convenient, especially for sensors placed on structures that experience regular vibrations. Such micro-vibrations can be harmful to the long-term structural health of a building or bridge, but at the same time they can be exploited as a power source to power the wireless sensors that are monitoring this structural health. This paper presents a new energy harvesting method based on a vibration driven electromagnetic harvester. By using an improved Maximum Power Point Tracking technique on the conversion circuit, the proposed method is shown to maximize the conversion coefficient from kinetic energy to applicable electrical energy.
KW - Energy harvesting
KW - maximum power point tracking
KW - micro generator
KW - structural health monitoring
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84885779665&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/1077546313501537
DO - 10.1177/1077546313501537
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84885779665
SN - 1077-5463
VL - 19
SP - 2255
EP - 2269
JO - JVC/Journal of Vibration and Control
JF - JVC/Journal of Vibration and Control
IS - 15
ER -