Energy harvesting from an autoparametric vibration absorber

The combined control and energy harvesting characteristics of an autoparametric vibration absorber consisting of a base structure subjected to the external force and a cantilever beam with a tip mass are investigated. The piezoelectric sheets are attached to the cantilever beam to convert the vibrations of the base structure into electrical energy. The coupled nonlinear representative model is developed by using the extended Hamiton's principle. The effects of the electrical load resistance on the frequency and damping ratio of the cantilever beam are analyzed. The impacts of the external force and load resistance on the structural displacements of the base structure and the beam and on the level of harvested energy are determined. The results show that the initial conditions have a significant impact on the system's response. The relatively high level of energy harvesting is not necessarily accompanied with the minimum displacements of the base structure.