Sensitivity-based nonlinear restoring force identification of multistable piezoelectric energy harvesters

Nonlinear restoring force has a significant influence on the nonlinear dynamic behavior of multistable piezoelectric energy harvesters. However, it is sometimes difficult in experiments to obtain the nonlinear restoring force accurately. Therefore, identifying the nonlinear restoring force is essential to analyze and optimize the multistable piezoelectric energy harvesters. In this paper, a novel approach is proposed to identify the nonlinear restoring force from time-domain voltage response sensitivity analysis. Firstly, the nonlinear restoring force identification is formulated as a nonlinear optimization problem whose goal function is just least squares of the misfit between the measured and calculated output. Sensitivity analysis and the trust region constraint are then introduced to get convergent solution iteratively. Numerical simulations are carried out based on several examples, and the results demonstrate the feasibility and accuracy of the proposed approach.

Automated summary

A novel approach is proposed in this paper to identify the nonlinear restoring force of multistable piezoelectric energy harvesters from time-domain voltage response sensitivity analysis. Numerical simulations demonstrate the feasibility and accuracy of the proposed approach.