Effect of Magnetostrictive Properties on the Performance of Velocity-Driven Harvester

The magneto-mechanical harvesters with different magnetostrictive materials as an active element have been modeled to convert unwanted vibration energy to electricity, promising a high energy density. The performance of the developed velocitydriven harvesters has been investigated while they were excited by almost the same frequency. The Finite Element Method (FEM), ANSYS Software, was employed to analyze the dynamic behavior of the harvesters numerically. The results show that magnetostriction coefficient and magnetic permeability play significant role in harvested power. Analytical analysis also promised the maximum power density of 43.1 mW/cm
³
with external resistive load of 0.1 Ω in Terfenol-D harvester which is almost 1.37 and 4.4 times of Galfenol and Permendur, respectively. Consequently, Terfenol-D is the most suitable harvester for low impedance load and high power device, and Permendur is suitable for high impedance and low power devices.