Ideal Rectifier Bridge Converting the Harvested Energy of Vibrations Into Electric Energy to Power an MR Damper

Abstract

Abstract The newly developed ideal rectifier bridge equipped with four N-type MOSFETs and two rail-to-rail operational amplifiers is a part of a typical energy harvesting conditioning circuit responsible for the rectification stage in the system of converting the energy harvested from vibrations into electrical energy to power the MR damper. The only energy loss in the bridge is caused by the voltage loss in transistors’ channels. The first sections of the work summarises the structural design of the bridge, the simulation procedure under the RL load and by sine voltage inputs with predetermined frequency and amplitude range, and benchmarks the results against those obtained for the conventional bridge based on Schottky diodes. In the second section, the PCB prototype of the bridge is analysed, and measurement data are compiled. The third section reports on the laboratory testing of the developed bridge converting the harvested energy in an MR damper-based vibration reduction system.