| Summary: | In this work, we propose a wideband quintuple-well potential piezoelectric-based
vibration energy harvester using a combined nonlinearity: the magnetic
nonlinearity induced by magnetic force and the piecewise-linearity produced by mechanical
impact. With extra stable states compared to other multi-stable harvesters, the
quin-stable harvester can distribute its potential energy more uniformly,
which provides shallower potential wells and results in lower excitation threshold for
interwell motion. The mathematical model of this quin-stable harvester is derived and its
equivalent piecewise-nonlinear restoring force is measured in the experiment and
identified as piecewise polynomials. Numerical simulations and experimental verifications are
performed in different levels of sinusoid excitation ranging from 1 to 25 Hz. The results
demonstrate that, with lower potential barriers compared with tri-stable counterpart, the
quin-stable arrangement can escape potential wells more easily for doing high-energy
interwell motion over a wider band of frequencies. Moreover, by utilizing the mechanical
stoppers, this harvester can produce significant output voltage under small tip
deflections, which results in a high power density and is especially suitable for a
compact MEMS approach.
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