Harvesting energy from the vibration of a passing train using a single-degree-of-freedom oscillator

Abstract

a b s t r a c tWith the advent of wireless sensors, there has been an increasing amount of research in the area of energy harvesting, particularly from vibration, to power these devices. An interesting application is the possibility of harvesting energy from the track-side vibration due to a passing train, as this energy could be used to power remote sensors mounted on the track for strutural health monitoring, for example. This paper describes a fundamental study to determine how much energy could be harvested from a passing train. Using a time history of vertical vibration measured on a sleeper, the optimum mechanical parameters of a linear energy harvesting device are determined. Numerical and analytical investigations are both carried out. It is found that the optimum amount of energy harvested per unit mass is proportional to the product of the square of the input acceleration amplitude and the square of the input duration. For the specific case studied, it was found that the maximum energy that could be harvested per unit mass of the oscillator is about 0.25 J/kg at a frequency of about 17 Hz. The damping ratio for the optimum harvester was found to be about 0.0045, and the corresponding amplitude of the relative displacement of the mass is approximately 5 mm.

Coupled Numerical Model of Vibration-Based Harvester

“…As mentioned in the principles and basics of the analytical design of the model [2,[17][18][19], Figure 2, it is possible to describe electromagnetic field more generally with the FEM numerical model (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11). The electromechanical vibrating harvester (34) works in special modes using resonances; its model includes nonlinearities and material nonlinearities depending on the temperature etc.…”

“…The extraction of residual energy (harvesting) has been a subject of scientific research in the latest decade. In many projects and publications [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19], the arrangement of a system generating electric power is sought as a suitable or optimized solution of design proposals. A very satisfactory tool of basic research is numerical modeling [2][3][4]8,[17][18][19].…”

“…One of the prerequisites for the design of the electromechanical system is a correct way of grasping the physical principle for maximum description of phenomena and processes; it is fundamental in harvesting extraction, as cases in the theses and works [17][18][19]. When comparing the majority of experimental methods and approaches [9,20], including hybrid design methods [6][7][8] with numerically modeled coupled tasks, the realized design using finite element methods (FEM) [2] is difficult to process but it leads to results with significant parameters relative to other quick approaches, as reported in work [19], Table 1, column "Effective power density [W/m 3 ]".…”

Development of a piezoelectric energy harvester for navigation support of railway transport

“…Its main drawback is the complexity of the design and, as a result, performance degradation with decreasing of the turbine size [5]. Autonomous power generators based on the piezoelectric effect can satisfy strength requirements, operate effectively in a wide temperature range and presence of moisture, withstand vibration and mechanical shock arising during the motion of the train [6][7][8][9].…”

“…Ветрогенератор пре-образует энергию потока воздуха в электроэнергию, но при малых размерах турбины характеризуется сложностью конструкции и низкой производительно-стью [5]. Автономные генераторы тока на основе пьезо-электрического эффекта отвечают прочностным тре-бованиям и способны эффективно работать в широ-ких диапазонах температур и влажности, а также выдерживать вибрации и механические удары, воз-никающие при движении поезда [6][7][8][9].…”