A General Analytical Tool for the Design of Vibration Energy Harvesters (VEHs) Based on the Mechanical Impedance Concept

Abstract : This paper reports on a new approach for the analysis and design of vibration-to-electricity converters [vibration energy harvesters (VEHs)] operating in the mode of strong electromechanical coupling. The underlying concept is that the mechanical impedance is defined for a nonlinear electromechanical transducer on the basis of an equivalence between electrical and mechanical systems. This paper demonstrates how the mechanical impedance of the transducer depends not only on the geometry and the nature of the electromechanical transducer itself but also on the topology and on the operation mode of the conditioning circuit. The analysis is developed for resonant harvesters and is based on the first-harmonic method. It is applied to three electrostatic harvesters using an identical conditioning circuit but employing transducers with different geometries. For each of the three configurations, the mechanical impedance of the transducer is calculated and then used to determine the optimal electrical operation mode of the conditioning circuit, allowing a desired amplitude of the mobile-mass vibration to be obtained. This paper highlights how the parameters of the conditioning circuit and of the transducer impact the transducer's mechanical impedance, directly affecting the impedance matching between the energy source (resonator) and the transducer. This technique permits the design of highly efficient VEHs whatever the means of transduction.