Study of a magnetic SMA-based energy harvester using a corrugated structure

Abstract

In recent years demand for mobile electrical power has been increased and due to this application, energy harvester systems have been developed to convert mechanical energy into electrical energy using smart materials. In this investigation, a novel arrangement of an energy harvester using Magnetic Shape Memory Alloys (MSMAs) is developed. Elements of MSMA are attached to a corrugated beam and their roots are fixed. The way of harvesting energy from this system is based on conversion of vibration motion energy to the magnetic flux gradient. There is a number of copper coils that wrapped around the MSMA elements in a constant magnetic field. If strain or stress field is applied to the MSMA elements, the electrical current is induced to coils. The problem is studied with analytical methods, and for this purpose, MATLAB solver is used. To simulate the behavior of MSMA substance Kiefer and Lagoudas nonlinear model is used. To verify the results, these two arrangements have been analyzed in ABAQUS. To provide the material properties of MSMA elements, UMAT code has been used. It will be shown that size of this MSMA based energy harvester can become smaller with using corrugated beam structure instead of simple cantilever beam.