Energy harvesting using the edge-state phenomena

Diatomic chain consisting of spring-mass system forms an attenuation bandgap due to the formation of the standing wave when the wavelength matches with the periodicity, known as Bragg-scattering. Edge-state phenomenon can be obtained by breaking the periodicity of the diatomic chain. Owing to this edge state phenomenon, the waves, and in turn the energy, is localized at the point of the asymmetry. In this work, an efficient vibrational energy harvesting technique is proposed exploiting this edge-state energy localization by inserting piezo-electric harvester at the junction of the asymmetry. To illustrate the performance of the proposed harvester under the broad-band noise, voltage-frequency curve for three different diatomic chain configurations, having same mass and stiffness, are analyzed. The performance metric, defined as the area under the voltage-frequency curve, shows 21.5 times higher performance can be obtained just by breaking the symmetry of a conventional diatomic chain. As it is also observed that the attenuation properties of the symmetric and asymmetric chain remain same; thus, the proposed edge-state energy harvester has a significant promise toward simultaneous energy harvesting and vibration control.

Automated summary

A diatomic chain with a periodic structure forms an attenuation bandgap due to Bragg scattering. Breaking the periodicity can yield an edge-state phenomenon where waves and energy are localized at a point of asymmetry. This study proposes an efficient vibrational energy harvesting technique by inserting a piezo-electric harvester at the junction of the asymmetry. Results show that breaking the symmetry of a conventional diatomic chain can significantly improve the performance of the energy harvester. The proposed edge-state energy harvester holds promise for simultaneous energy harvesting and vibration control.