Development of Magnetostrictive Energy Harvesting of Mechanical Vibration Energy

Energy harvesting devices utilizing magnetostrictive materials are a logical choice for harvesting the high impedance (high force, low displacement) vibrations found aboard Navy ships. Force-based devices, enabled by magnetostrictive materials, can harvest energy over an extremely large bandwidth, approximately ±35 and ±70 Hz currently, making them more desirable in situations aboard Navy ships were transient vibration conditions created by varying ship speeds is present. This broader bandwidth also means easier installation of the devices without the need for exact placement on the vibration source and eliminating tuning requirements typical of the displacement based devices. The robustness and formability that Galfenol alloys exhibit allow 1-dimensional (1D), 2-dimensional (2D), and 3-dimensional (3D) energy harvesting devices to be developed and optimized for the identified need and vibration coupling scheme. A 1D Galfenol device could consist of wire(s) bundled together to form an energy harvesting cable that could be wrapped around a vibrating column; a 2D Galfenol device could consist of a single Galfenol sheet attached to a vibrating panel; and a 3D Galfenol device could consist of structural support on-which the vibration source is mounted. The proposed work will investigate 1D and 2D Galfenol energy harvesting devices in Navy ship environments.