Title: Effective energy regeneration from multi-mode-based vehicle vibration

Authors: Seiji Hashimoto; Nobuyuki Nagai; Shunji Kumagai; Makoto Kasai

Addresses: Department of Electronic Engineering, Gunma University, 1-5-1 Tenjin, Kiryu, Gunma 376-8515, Japan ' Department of Electronic Engineering, Gunma University, 1-5-1 Tenjin, Kiryu, Gunma 376-8515, Japan ' Research and Development Department, Mitsuba Corporation, 1-2681 Hirosawa, Kiryu, Gunma 376-8555, Japan ' Research and Development Department, Mitsuba Corporation, 1-2681 Hirosawa, Kiryu, Gunma 376-8555, Japan

Abstract: In recent years, energy harvesting technologies using renewable energy have been focused. This paper presents a novel vibration power generation device for vehicles where effective power generation can be obtained by multi-mode vibration of the vehicles. The main advantage of the developed device is the power generation over wide frequency range. First, road tests of the vehicle are performed for several representative conditions such as mass and velocity variations, and then the obtained data is analysed. Next, a vibration power generation device specially designed for the vehicle is proposed. This new device is composed of the multiple masses and spring plates equipped with a lead zirconate titanate (PZT), and is effective in multi-mode vibration. Taking the road-test results into consideration, the design is carried out based on agreement between the resonant frequencies of the device and the vibration frequencies of the vehicle. The validity of the developed device is confirmed by the simulation and experimental results.

Keywords: energy regeneration; vehicle vibration; multi-mode vibration; multi-mass systems; energy harvesting; vibration power generation; resonant frequencies; vibration frequencies; simulation; PZT devices; lead zirconate titanate; vehicle power generation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJAMECHS.2013.057667

International Journal of Advanced Mechatronic Systems, 2013 Vol.5 No.4, pp.279 - 287

Published online: 12 Jul 2014 *

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