• Journal of Magnetics
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.252-257
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• 2015

This paper investigates the concept and implementation of an energy harvesting device using a ferrofluid sloshing movement to generate an electromotive force (EMF). Ferrofluids are often applied to energy harvesting devices because they have both magnetic properties and fluidity, and they behave similarly to a soft ferromagnetic substance. In addition, a ferrofluid can change its shape freely and generate an EMF from small vibrations. The existing energy harvesting techniques, for example those using piezoelectric and thermoelectric devices, generate minimal electric power, as low as a few micro-watts. Through flow analysis of ferrofluids and examination of the magnetic circuit characteristics of the resultant electromagnetic system, an energy harvester model based on an electromagnetic field generated by a ferrofluid is developed and proposed. The feasibility of the proposed scheme is demonstrated and its EMF characteristics are discussed based on experimental data.

• Composites Research
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.357-372
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• 2021

The energy harvesting device is known to be promising as an alternative to solve the resource shortage caused by the depletion of petroleum resources. In order to overcome the limitations (environmental pollution and low mechanical properties) of piezoelectric elements capable of converting mechanical motion into electrical energy, many studies have been conducted on a polymer matrix-based composite piezoelectric energy harvesting device. In this paper, the output performance and related applications of the reported piezoelectric composites are reviewed based on the applied materials and processes. As for the piezoelectric fillers, zinc oxide, which is advantageous in terms of eco-friendliness, biocompatibility, and flexibility, as well as ceramic fillers based on lead zirconate titanate and barium titanate, were reviewed. The polymer matrix was classified into piezoelectric polymers composed of polyvinylidene fluoride and copolymers, and flexible polymers based on epoxy and polydimethylsiloxane, to discuss piezoelectric synergy of composite materials and improvement of piezoelectric output by high external force application, respectively. In addition, the effect of improving the conductivity or the mechanical properties of composite material by the application of a metal or carbon-based secondary filler on the output performance of the piezoelectric harvesting device was explained in terms of the structure of the composite material. Composite material-based piezoelectric harvesting devices, which can be applied to small electronic devices, smart sensors, and medicine with improved performance, can provide potential insights as a power source for wireless electronic devices expected to be encountered in future daily life.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of IIIuminating and Electrical Installation Engineers Conference
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• 2009.10a
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• pp.407-410
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• 2009

A piezoelectric device which converts mechanical vibration energy into electrical energy is able to harvest energy and the usable energy is mW ${\sim}$ W, hence a converter is necessary to acquire the energy efficiently. Various limited conditions should be considered for the design of AC/DC converter for energy harvesting of a piezoelectric device supplying small amount of energy. In addition to simple structure, compact size, light weight and high efficiency, the energy harvesting AC!DC converter should adopt the technique of self operating, in which only the harvested energy from the piezoelectric device is available. This paper proposes new AC/DC resonant boost converter to harvest efficiently electrical energy from mechanical vibration energy, analyzes the operating characteristics of the converter and proves its feasibility for energy harvester with PSPICE simulation and experiment.

• Transactions of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.406-413
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• 2015

The piezoelectric coupling in piezoelectric vibration energy harvesters with load resistance induces electrical damping as well as increase in the system stiffness. Starting from analytically deriving the explicit relations through governing equations in the frequency domain, this work identifies the characteristics of the electrically induced damping mechanism and shows that the electrically induced damping serves as a structural hysteretic damping on condition that a piezoelectric vibration energy harvester is excited at its short-circuit resonant frequency and its load resistor is optimally impedance- matched at the same time. Finally, it is analytically verified that the equivalence of a mechanical and an electrically induced damping ratio is required for the maximum power generation at a load resistor, which was claimed in some literature.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.313-319
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• 2010

Vibration energy harvesting is an attractive technique for potential powering of low power devices such as wireless sensors and portable electronic applications. Most energy generator developed to date are single vibration frequency based, and while some efforts have been made to broaden the frequency range of energy harvester. In this work, The effect of energy harvesting were investigated at various vibration frequencies, vibration beams, vibration point and test masses. The maximum output voltage of the bimorph piezoelectric cantilever was shifted according to vibration point. Vibration frequency with maximum output voltage decreased with the increasing length of vibration beam and increasing test mass. The sample with vibration beam length 0.5 L generated a peak output voltage of 32 $V_{rms}$ and shows a 45 % increase in voltage output in comparison to the corresponding original bimorph. It was found that a piezoelectric bimorph has a possibility to be as the energy harvesting cantilever, which is successfully tuned over a vibration frequency range to enable a maximum harvesting energy.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.66 no.10
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• pp.1499-1507
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• 2017

This paper presents an impact-based piezoelectric vibration energy harvester using a freely movable metal sphere and a piezoceramic fiber-based MFC (Macro Fiber Composite) as piezoelectric cantilever. The free motion of the metal sphere, which impacts both ends of the cavity in an aluminum housing, generates power across a cantilever-type MFC beam in response to low frequency vibration such as human-body-induced motion. Impacting force of the spherical proof mass is transformed into the vibration of the piezoelectric cantilever indirectly via the aluminum housing. A proof-of-concept energy harvesting device has been fabricated and tested. Effect of the indirect impact-based system has been tested and compared with the direct impact-based counterpart. Maximum peak-to-peak open circuit voltage of 39.8V and average power of $598.9{\mu}W$ have been obtained at 3g acceleration at 18Hz. Long-term reliability of the fabricated device has been verified by cyclic testing. For the improvement of output performance and reliability, various devices have been tested and compared. Using device fabricated with anodized aluminum housing, maximum peak-to-peak open-circuit voltage of 34.4V and average power of $372.8{\mu}W$ have been obtained at 3g excitation at 20Hz. In terms of reliability, housing with 0.5mm-thick steel plate and anodized aluminum gave improved results with reduced power reduction during initial phase of the cyclic testing.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.39 no.5
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• pp.499-505
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• 2015

To properly design and assess a piezoelectric vibration energy harvester, it is necessary to consider the application of an efficiency measure of energy conversion. The energy conversion efficiency is defined in this work as the ratio of the electrical output power to the mechanical input power for a piezoelectric vibration energy harvester with an impedance-matched load resistor. While previous research works employed the electrical output power for approximate impedance-matched load resistance, this work derives an efficiency measure considering optimally matched resistance. The modified efficiency measure is validated by comparing it with finite element analysis results for piezoelectric vibration energy harvesters with three different values of the electro-mechanical coupling coefficient. New findings on the characteristics of energy conversion and conversion efficiency are also provided for the two different impedance matching methods.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.30 no.8
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• pp.501-507
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• 2017

A unimorph piezoelectric cantilever generator with an interdigitated electrode (IDE) was developed for vibration energy harvester applications driven in the longitudinal mode. Hard lead zirconate titanate (PZT) ceramic with a high $Q_m$ of 1,280 was used as the piezoelectric active material. Ten PZT sheets produced by tape casting were laminated and co-fired with an Ag/Pd IDE at $1,050^{\circ}C$ for 2 h. The approximately $280{\mu}m$-thick co-fired PZT laminate with the IDE was attached to a stainless steel substrate with an adhesive epoxy for the fabrication of an IDE unimorph cantilever. Its energy harvesting characteristics were evaluated: an output power of $1.1{\mu}W$ at 120 Hz across the resistive load of $700k{\Omega}$ was obtained, corresponding to a normalized power factor of $4.1{\mu}W/(G^2{\cdot}cm^3)$.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2012.10a
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• pp.628-629
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• 2012

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2013.10a
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• pp.64-65
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• 2013