Comparative Study of Piezoelectric Vortex-Induced Vibration-Based Energy Harvesters with Multi-Stability Characteristics

This work reports a comparative study on piezoelectric energy harvesting from vortex-induced vibration (VIV) with multi-stability characteristics by introducing the nonlinear magnetic forces. A lumped-parameter model for the piezoelectric cantilever-cylinder structure is considered for the sake of qualitative investigation. Firstly, the buckling displacement of harvester in monostable and bistable configurations is evaluated by virtue of a static analysis. Then, the coupled frequency and damping of the harvester varying with the electrical load resistance are determined for different values of the spacing distance between magnets. Subsequently, the dynamic behaviors and generated voltage of the harvester in two configurations are elaborately investigated, showing that varying the spacing distance is followed by a shift of lock-in region which is significant for performance optimization according to ambient wind conditions. In addition, the results show the harvester in monostable configuration displays a hardening behavior while a softening behavior takes place in bistable configuration, both of the harvester in two configurations can widen the synchronization region.