See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/341640538

Experimental and Numerical Studies of a Soft Impact Piezoelectric Energy

Harvesting Using an MR Fluid

Article  in  IEEE Sensors Journal · May 2020

DOI: 10.1109/JSEN.2020.2997022

CITATIONS READS

2 124

3 authors:

Hayford Azangbebil Sylvester Djokoto

Ontario Tech University Kaunas University of Technology
3 PUBLICATIONS   4 CITATIONS    15 PUBLICATIONS   29 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Martin Agelin-Chaab
Ontario Tech University
200 PUBLICATIONS   3,182 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Thermal Management of Li-ion Batteries (Air Cooling) View project

Bluff body aerodynamics View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Martin Agelin-Chaab on 28 June 2020.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 Experimental and numerical studies of a soft
impact piezoelectric energy harvesting using an
MR fluid
Hayford Azangbebil, Sylvester S. Djokoto, Student, IEEE, Martin Agelin-Chaab
Abstract— Numerical and an experimental study of a soft impact-
based piezoelectric energy harvesting system employing a thin
layer of magnetorheological (MR) fluid as the impact object is
presented in this paper. MR fluid devices are mostly used as
vibration suppressors in automobiles and other machinery. MR
fluids exhibit variable rheological properties in the presence of a
magnetic field, which makes them excellent vibration attenuation
devices with easily adaptable damping forces. This behavior can
be exploited in vibration energy harvesting to aid frequency up-
conversion. The study is carried by solving the theoretical
equations numerically and then validating the results
experimentally. The Heaviside function is used to model the
piecewise nonlinear dynamics of the proposed system. In this way,
the sticky and inelastic behavior of the fluid, which causes a time-
delay in the oscillations of the beam is best described. The results
obtained indicated that increasing the magnetic field increases the
voltage generated through frequency amplification. The voltage
obtained with a load resistance of 200 kΩ increased from 9.29 V to
9.42 V when the magnetic field increases from 0.04T to 0.08T for
the numerical study and 7.71 V to 8.46 V when the field increased
from 0.044T to 0.085T in the experimental study. The frequency
is amplified from 59.58 Hz at 0.04T to 82.76 Hz at 0.08T for the
numerical results and from 61.02 Hz at 0.044T to 83.04 at 0.085T
for the experimental results. The MR fluid acts as a soft impact
object in this work.
Index Terms— bandwidth widening, frequency amplification,
Magnetorheological fluid, squeeze mode, soft impact,
I. INTRODUCTION
H ARVESTING WASTE ENERGY from the environment is an
innovative means of introducing autonomy into micro-
electronic devices. With the advent of autonomous wireless
micro-devices coupled with the continuous reduction in the
power consumption of electronics, interest in this technology
from the academic world has been growing in geometric
proportions for the past decade. The growing interest in energy
harvesting from both academia and industry has led to the
production of numerous innovative prototypes of blood
pressure monitors, pacemakers, etc. which are at advanced
stages of commercialization [1], [2]. This technology has the
potential of supplanting batteries in the provision of power to
remote wireless devices. Wireless devices are usually designed
to operate from remote locations, and they mostly obtain their
power supply from batteries. Batteries, by nature, have finite
energy output and require periodic recharging or replacement.
They also require wiring as they are mostly located away from
the sensor for easy replacement, making them quite bulky at the
micro-level. The use of batteries to power wireless sensors is,
therefore, very problematic, especially at locations which are
inaccessible or dangerous to human life.
The energy in the environment may be available in various
forms such as thermal, vibrations in structures or machinery,
light, human motion, radio-frequency waves, etc. Harvesting
energy from vibration involves transducing the motion or
displacement of a mechanical structure or machine, the
movement of air or water waves, etc. into usable forms of
energy. Harvesting energy from vibration has the most potential
especially for micro-applications because it is one of the most
ubiquitous forms of energy in an environment [3], although, it
has less density as compared to the conventional forms of
energy such as solar and wind energy.
Several ways of scavenging waste energy in the environment
have been reported in the literature. However, there are
currently three practical, feasible means of converting waste
mechanical energy into electrical energy. There are
electromagnetic, electrostatic, and piezoelectric energy
converters [4]. Electromagnetic transducers convert the change
in magnetic flux into voltage in a coil. This technique is based
on the law of electromagnetic induction, where any change in
the magnetic field cutting a conductor induces an electromotive
in the conductor. This requires that a relative motion exists
between the source of the magnetic field and the conductor.
Electrostatic transducers work based on the concept of a
variable plate capacitance to harvest energy from the
environment. Their main disadvantage is that they require
initial energy input. Piezoelectric materials convert electrical
charges internally generated in certain crystals due to
mechanical stress into voltage. Piezoelectric materials also
work in the reverse direction to convert electrical voltage into
mechanical displacement.
Among the three transduction mechanisms, piezoelectric
transducers have the most potential because they have the
highest power density, highest feasibility for practical
applications and also they can easily be fabricated using
micromachining techniques [5].
Although energy harvesting based on piezoelectricity is very
attractive, optimum power is produced where there is
resonance. This places a serious limitation on their usability
because vibration in the built environment is randomly
distributed with varying frequencies. Based on this constraint,
new design methodologies have experimented to widen the
1
operation bandwidth of the energy harvesters. These techniques
include using an array of linear generators each with different
resonant frequency [6], broadband or multimodal energy
harvesters [3], [7], [8], etc. Other noticeable characteristics of
most environmental vibrations are low frequency and high
amplitude as found in human motion [9], [10]. However, it has
been observed that harvesters with low resonant frequencies
typically have low mechanical-electrical power conversion
efficiencies [11]. The electromechanical conversion efficiency,
𝜍
𝜂, is defined as 𝜍 +𝜍𝑒 , where 𝜍𝑒 is the electrical damping ratio Fig. 1: (a) Nature of fluid: (a) particles in the absence of a magnetic field, and
𝑒 𝑚
and 𝜍𝑚 is the mechanical damping ratio, which is inversely (b) properties in the presence of a magnetic field [21].
proportional to frequency. Thus, mechanical to electrical power
Despite the extensive research in MR fluid behavior and
conversion decreases with a decrease in frequency [12]. This
applications, little research has been conducted in the area of
makes it quite problematic to produce a significant amount of
energy harvesting, especially exploiting its enormous potential
power in low-frequency vibrations through electromechanical
for frequency tuning. Many of the studies have concentrated on
coupling.
vibration control as used in airplane landing gears [22], train
To circumvent the bottlenecks associated with harvesting
suspension system [23], vibration control of structures [24], gun
energy from low frequency vibrations, some researchers have
recoil application [25], washing machines [26], etc. MR fluid
proposed frequency-up-conversion techniques that convert the
dampers for vibration control and shock absorbers create
low frequency vibrations to high-frequency vibrations. This
mechanical energy, which is normally dissipated as heat. With
increases the efficiency of the harvester and broadens its
the push towards the development of self-sensing and self-
operational bandwidth. The pioneers of this technique proposed
powered devices, the mechanical energy absorbed could be
a piezoelectric generator that converts the impact of a steel ball
converted into a useful form to power the damper itself and
bouncing on a piezoelectric membrane into electrical energy
other auxiliary devices. A typical application area is an
[13]. Other impact-based frequency up-conversion techniques
automobile shock absorber. According to research done by
have been reported in [14] [15][16].
Segel and Xiao-Pei [27], approximately 200 W of power is
absorbed and dissipated by the four dampers of a typical
Magnetorheological (MR) fluids have attracted much
passenger car travelling on a poor roadway at 30 mph. Also,
research attention in recent times because of their unique
direct measurement of power dissipated in a passenger car
rheological characteristics in the presence of a magnetic field.
shock absorber indicates that about 40 to 60 W of power are
MR fluids, electrorheological (ER) and ferrofluids are a
dissipated by the four shock absorbers combined when the car
category of fluids known as smart fluids whose rheological
is plying a typical urban roadway [28], [29]. This huge amount
properties can be altered by the application of a magnetic or
of power could be harvested to power various sensors in the
electric field [17]. Unlike MR fluids, ER fluids are activated by
vehicle. The design of autonomous magnetorheological fluid
an electric field, and they generally contain semiconducting or
devices such as dampers in vehicle suspension systems,
polarizable materials as electro-responsive parts [18]. MR
motorcycle or bicycle shock absorbers requires that the energy
fluids have gained wider applications recently because they do
which is normally absorbed and dissipated be converted into a
not require the normally high voltages required by ER fluids.
useable form. This can then be used to re-energize the damper
They can easily be activated by a magnetic field from a
or power auxiliary devices such as GPS sensors, fuel gauge
permanent magnet or low voltages in the range of 1-5V can
monitors, tire pressure monitors, accelerometers, etc. These
generate enough field to excite them. Also, MR fluid devices
devices consume power in the microwatts-milliwatts range and
are excellent vibration suppressors long-range adjustable
could be powered through this type of energy harvesting.
damping force, respond in microseconds to the applied field,
Currently, two different principles and designs based on MR
and they consume comparatively very low power [19].
energy harvesting dampers have been proposed. One idea is the
The fluid is made up of magnetizable particles (such as pure
conversion of linear damper vibration into rotary motion where
iron, carbonyl iron, or cobalt powder) and a carrier fluid which
permanent magnet generators are used to harvest the energy by
is non-magnetic, organic or aqueous liquid and it’s usually a
employing motion transducers such as rack and pinion, ball
silicone or mineral oil [20]. In the presence of a magnetic field,
screw and hydraulic transmission [30]–[34]. The other idea is
the magnetic particles in the fluid acquire a magnetic dipole and
the use of electromagnetic induction devices to convert the
quickly aligns themselves with the direction of the magnetic
relative linear motion between magnets and coils into energy
field, forming chain-like structures. These chains give rise to
[35]. The major drawback of energy harvesting using the above
yield stress which quickly reverses to the normal state when the
ideas is the difficulty in miniaturing these devices using
field is removed [20]. This phenomenon is illustrated in Fig. 1
micromachining techniques.
This paper proposes a soft-impact frequency tuning of a
piezoelectric energy harvester using magnetorheological smart
fluid as a soft impact object. This technique is unique and

2
different from the conventional frequency up-conversion
techniques available in literature because the stiffness of the
impact object is easily varied by altering the magnetic field
applied exerted on the fluid. This is more advantageous as it
also protects the device from mechanical damage such as
fatigue and buckling due to the impact. The model presented
here is based on the squeeze mode. The squeeze mode of MR
fluids is considered the most powerful mode of all the
operational modes (valve, shear, pinch, and squeeze) of the
fluid, especially for low amplitude devices, yet not much
literature is reported [36]. The large yield stress of the fluid in
the squeeze mode is exploited for the frequency amplification
of the proposed piezoelectric energy generator. It must be
pointed out that earlier work by Djokoto et al. [18] investigated
the effect of using a squeezed film MR fluid stopper for
frequency tuning on a piezoelectric vibrating energy generator.
Their work, however, failed to capture the sticky and inelastic
behavior of the fluid. Their work was also carried out at high
frequencies which cannot be used to justify the impact-based
frequency tuning available in the literature.
Unlike the earlier energy harvesting techniques mentioned
above, piezoelectric devices are easier to fabricate using micro-
machining techniques. Examples of micro-machined
piezoelectric devices are audio devices, low and high-frequency
ultrasonic devices, acoustic devices [37], etc. The main
objective is to investigate the potential of using MR fluid in
energy harvesting. Therefore, this study will also examine the
frequency amplification potential of a piezoelectric energy
harvester using MR fluid as an impact object. The study will
employ a numerical calculation of the theoretical equations
using MATLAB, which will then be experimentally validated.
II. THEORY AND METHODOLOGY
The impact-based energy harvester is depicted in Fig. 2a. The
energy harvester is made of a cantilevered piezoelectric
bimorph actuator placed between two permanent magnets and
a thin layer of the fluid attached to one of the magnets. The
piezoelectric cantilever beam used in this study is the M1100
from Johnson Matthey Piezo-Products [38]. This type of piezo
actuator is depicted in Fig. 2b.
Fig. 2: (a) Schematic diagram of the soft-impact power generator, and (b)
Piezoelectric bimorph bending actuator (not drawn to scale).
A. Modeling
The soft impact-based piezoelectric energy harvester
presented in this paper is modeled as a piecewise coupled
nonlinear single degree of freedom (SDOF) model [39], [40].
In this model, when the displacement of the beam exceeds the
initial gap, the beam impacts the energized fluid. The dynamics
of the beam change from linear to nonlinear due to the nonlinear
stiffness added to the beam upon the impact. The stiffness and
damping of the piezoelectric beam, therefore, change from 𝑘1
to 𝑘1 + 𝑘2 and 𝑐1 to 𝑐1 + 𝑐2 respectively. The SDOF model is
depicted diagrammatically in Fig. 5.
Fig. 2: Single degree of freedom model of the proposed soft impact energy
harvester.
The coupled equations used to describe the system are
piecewise nonlinear. The Heaviside function is used to model
the piecewise nonlinear, inelastic and sticky behavior of the
impact-based system. These equations are represented as:
𝑚𝑥̈ + 𝑐1 𝑥̇ + 𝑘1 𝑥 + (𝑐2 𝑥̇ + 𝑘2 𝑥)ℎ =
𝐹𝑠𝑖𝑛(𝜔𝑡) − 2𝜃𝑣 (1)
𝑣
−𝜃𝑥̇ + 𝐶𝑝 𝑣̇ = − (2)
2𝑅
where, 𝑚, is the mass of the cantilever beam, 𝑐1 is the damping
coefficient of the piezoelectric the beam, 𝑐2 is the damping
coefficient of the MR fluid, 𝑡 is time and 𝜔 is the angular
frequency of the source excitation. The natural stiffness of the
cantilever is denoted by 𝑘1 and when the beam impacts the
fluid, the additional stiffness 𝑘2 due to the MRF is added to it.
x is the displacement of the cantilever beam, F is the amplitude
if the applied . The generated voltage is denoted as v. R, 𝜃 and
𝐶𝑝 are the load resistance, equivalent piezoelectric coefficient
(forcing factor) and the piezoelectric capacitance, respectively.
ℎ represents the Heaviside function defined as:
0, 𝑥 < 𝑑1
ℎ={
1, 𝑥 ≥ 𝑑1
The equation is based on the parallel configuration of the
piezoelectric bimorph layers. The forcing factor for the bimorph
configuration is defined as [41]:
2 𝜃2
𝐾𝑒 2 = 𝐶𝑝 𝑘
(3)
3
𝐾𝑒 is the piezoelectric coupling coefficient and k is defined here 3 𝜋𝜂𝑟 4
𝑐2 = 2 (𝑑 3 (8)
as the effective stiffness of the energy harvester. 1 +𝑥)

The behavior of the MRF is described by the magnetic field- The squeeze mode model used in this study has been
induced yield stress. MR fluid, 140-CG, from Lord corporation experimentally validated in [44] :
was used in this study [42]. The characteristics of the fluid are The spring constant of the cantilever beam alone is given by
described mathematically by two empirical formulas [43]. [45]:
Equation (4) gives the magnitude of the induced yield stress,
𝜏(𝐻) in 𝑁⁄𝑚2 , as a function of the applied magnetic field
intensity 𝐻 (𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝐴⁄𝑚) , whereas (5) defines the 𝑘1 =
3𝐸𝐼
(9)
𝐵/𝐻 curve of the fluid. 𝑙𝑏 3

where 𝐸 is Young’s modulus of the piezoelectric beam, 𝐼 is the

𝜏(𝐻) = 271700 × C × Φ1.5239 × tanh (6.3310−6 × 𝐻) (4) moment of inertia and 𝑙𝑏 is the free vibrating length of the beam.
The moment of inertia is given by [46]:
𝐵 = 1.91×Φ1.133 × (1 − 𝑒 −10.97𝜇𝑜 𝐻 ) + 𝜇𝑜 𝐻 (5) 𝑤 𝐸 𝑤𝑡𝑝
𝐼 = 12 ( 𝐸𝑠ℎ 𝑡𝑠ℎ 3 + 2𝑡𝑝 3 ) + 2
(𝑡𝑠ℎ + 𝑡𝑝 )2 (10)
𝑝

C is a dimensionless constant whose value depends on the type

of carrier fluid of the MRF and Φ ( 𝑃𝑎. 𝑠) is the particle volume
fraction of the fluid. 𝐵 is the magnetic flux density (Tesla) and
𝜇𝑜 is the permeability of free space (𝑊𝑏⁄𝐴𝑚).
A plot of the yield stress vs magnetic field density for this type
of fluid is shown in Fig. 6:
where w is the width of the beam, 𝐸𝑠ℎ is the modulus of
elasticity of the shim layer, 𝐸𝑝 is Young’s modulus of the
piezoelectric material, 𝑡𝑠ℎ is the thickness of the shim layer, and
𝑡𝑝 is the thickness of piezoelectric material.
The effective Young’s modulus of the piezoelectric beam is
defined as [47]:

2𝑡𝑝 𝐸𝑝 +𝑡𝑠ℎ 𝐸𝑠ℎ

𝐸= (11)
2𝑡𝑝 +𝑡𝑠ℎ

The frequency of the energy harvester is, calculated using:

𝐾𝑒𝑓𝑓
𝜔𝑛 = √ (12)
m

𝐾𝑒𝑓𝑓 is defined as the effective stiffness of the energy harvester

and it is equal to the sum of 𝑘1 and 𝑘2 , and 𝑚 is the mass of
Fig. 3: magnetic field density vs yield stress of MRF
the energy harvester.
Kinetic energy in the form of vibration is harvested through
The stiffness and damping effect depend on the damping damping. The damping factor of the system is a form of
force. The total force due to the magnetic field is given by [44]: mechanical energy dissipation. The damping coefficient of the
piezoelectric cantilever beam, which quantifies this energy
dissipation in the beam is given as [48]:
4𝜋𝑟 3 𝜏 3 𝜋𝜂𝑟 4
𝐹𝑀𝑅𝐹 = 𝑠𝑔𝑛(𝑥̇ ) + 𝑥̇ (6)
3(𝑑1 +𝑥) 2 (𝑑1 +𝑥)3
𝑐1 = 2𝜁𝑚𝜔𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑚 (13)
𝜁 is the damping ratio of the free vibration beam.
where r is the radius of the magnet, and 𝜂 is the plastic viscosity
of the fluid. The total force is made up of two components: the The numerical simulation is carried out assuming a base
active (stiffness) component; thus, the yield stress-dependent harmonic excitation with a vibration amplitude of 1g 𝑚/𝑠 2
component, and the passive (damping) component. By (where g = 9.81 𝑚/𝑠 2). This value is selected to fall within the
differentiating the active component of the force with respect to range of acceleration values from typical vibration sources in
the displacement x, the stiffness due to the fluid is obtained as: the environment [45]. The properties of the piezoelectric
bimorph and the fluid are listed in Table 1
4𝜋𝑟 3 𝜏
𝑘2 = (7)
3(𝑑1 +𝑥)2

The damping coefficient due to the fluid is obtained from the

yield stress independent component of the force as:

4
Table 1: system parameters of the energy harvester used in the study.

Symbol Description Value Unit

lb Free (vibrating) 38 mm
length of beam
W Width of beam 7.2 mm
tp Piezoelectric layer 0.25 mm
thickness
tsh Shim layer thickness 0.28 mm
Ρp Density of 8100 Kg/m3
piezoelectric layer
ρsh Shim layer density 8960 Kg/m3
Esh Young’s modulus of 120e9 N/m2
Shim layer
Ep Piezoelectric layer 8.55e11 N/m2
modulus of elasticity Fig. 7: Experimental setup of the proposed energy harvester
rm Radius of magnet 2 mm
Φ Particle volume 0.4
fraction
𝜼 Plastic viscosity of 0.288 Pa.s
MR fluid
R Load resistance 200 kΩ

µ0 Permeability of 1.26e-6 H/m

vacuum
H Initial distance 0.5 mm
between MRF and
Beam
C carrier fluid constant 1
of MRF
Fig. 8: Input excitation signal level applied to the piezoelectric cantilever beam
𝑲𝒆 Piezoelectric 0.42
coupling coefficient

IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

III. EXPERIMENTAL SETUP
The experimental set up used to validate the numerical results
is depicted in Fig. 7. The setup consists of the piezoelectric
cantilever beam, two Nd-Fe-B (N30) permanent magnets, LA-
100 signal amplifier, Sentek MS-50 shaker, Keyence laser
displacement sensor (IL series), Gaussmeter (Allosun EM556),
333B50 piezoelectric accelerometer and an oscilloscope
(RTB2004). The piezoelectric beam is mounted on the vibration
shaker and placed between the two permanent magnets,
attached to an adjustable clamp. A thin layer of MRF (about
0.5mm) is attached to the bottom magnet. By changing the
distance of separation of the magnets through the adjustable
clamp, the magnet field can be varied.
In this work, a constant sinusoidal signal of 1g amplitude and
20 Hz frequency, shown in Fig. 8, is applied to the cantilever
beam through vibration shaker and the vibration monitored by
the accelerometer. The displacement sensor, which is made of
the sensor head (IL-030) and the sensor amplifier control unit
(IL-1000), is used to monitor the displacement of the
piezoelectric beam. Load resistance of 200 kΩ is connected
across the piezoelectric bimorph terminals, which is then
connected to the digital oscilloscope to monitor and record the
voltage generated in time. The results obtained are post-
processed to obtain the frequency of the beam under the
different magnet fields.
The nonlinear coupled equations representing the proposed
system are numerically solved using MATLAB. The simulation
is carried using an excitation amplitude of 1𝑔. The numerical
study was carried out at 0.04T, 0.08T, and 0.12T magnetic field
densities. The time series peak to peak generated voltage is
shown in Fig. 9. It is worth pointing out that the piezoelectric
cantilever beam used in this study is not necessarily excited at
its resonant frequency because at high frequency the beam
vibrates at such a high speed that no impact was observed and
also since for a given excitation level, the beam vibrates with
low amplitude displacement at high frequency as compared to
low frequency. This was observed during the experimental
study. The experiment was conducted for different distances
between the magnets: 2.8mm representing 0.13T, 5mm
representing 0.085T and 7mm representing 0.44T.
Fig. 9 and Fig. 10 show the results of the generated voltage in
time for the experimental and numerical studies
respectively. These results are also summarized in Table 2. The
discrepancies in the profiles of the two results can be attributed
to the nonlinear dynamics of the fluid which is difficult to
accurately model. Also, the error introduced during the
measurement of the magnetic field as the distance between the
magnets was varied is also a contributing factor to the
differences between the theoretical and experimental results.
By increasing the magnetic field strength, the voltage generated
increases from 9.29 V at 0.04T to 9.42 V .at 0.08T representing
a 1.4% increase for the numerical and from 7.71 V at 0.44T to
8.46 V at 0.085T representing 9.7% increase for the
experimental study. This increase is due to damping ratio

5
reduction at high frequencies for any given system parameters.
Also, the frequency of vibration of the system is up-converted
to 59.58 Hz for the numerical study and 61.02 Hz for
experimental study at a magnetic field of about 0.04T. This
increase is due to the additional stiffness added to the beam
when it impacts the fluid. The low and high amplitude
oscillations in the voltage profile are attributed to the ‘stick’ and
‘release’ effects of the fluid, respectively, when the beam
impacts it. Table 2 also summarizes the result of the frequency
up-conversion of the proposed system.

Table 2: Summary of experimental and numerical results

Magnetic Voltage (V) Frequency (Hz)
field (Tesla)
Numerical Experiment Differences (%) Numerical Experiment Difference (%)
simulation simulation

0.04 9.29 7.71 17.01 59.58 61.02 2.4

0.08 9.42 8.46 10.2 82.76 83.04 0.3
0.12 9.53 9.056 5.0 101.70 103.00 1.3

Fig. 10: Voltage at different magnetic field densities for a load resistance of 200
Fig. 9: Voltage at different magnetic field densities for a load resistance of 200 kΩ: Numerical study.
kΩ: Experimental study.

Fig. 11 depicts the results of voltage and power generated for
the proposed system. It can be seen that the optimum power
occurs at an optimum load resistance. In this study, the
optimum resistance was obtained as 9600 Ω. The voltage,
however, increases with resistance, though slightly beyond
15kΩ. It is interesting to note that the optimum resistance for
maximum power depends on several factors such as the
capacitance of the plates, frequency, damping ratio, etc. The
low optimum resistance is mainly due to the high capacitance
and damping ratio in this work.
Fig. 11: Average power and peak voltage vs. load resistance at 0.04T. Note the
direction of the arrows corresponding to the appropriate y-axis.
One parameter that greatly influences the damping effect of the
fluid considered in this study is the radius of the magnet. The
size of the magnet used in this work was carefully chosen to
minimize the damping effect of the fluid on the generated
voltage of the piezoelectric generator. As shown in Fig. 12,
increasing the radius of the magnet decreases the displacement
of the beam and hence the voltage generated. This is mainly
because of the increase in damping when with an increase in the
radius of the magnet. This is noticed why taking a casual look
at (8). It is also worth pointing out in Fig. 12 that a zero radius
represents no fluid condition as the damping force shown in (6)
goes to zero at zero radius.

6
> REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR PAPER IDENTIFICATION NUMBER (DOUBLE-CLICK HERE TO EDIT) <
Fig. 12: Displacement and voltage vs radius of the magnet. Note the direction
of the arrows corresponding to the appropriate y-axis.
Fig. 13 shows the plot of magnetic vs voltage and power for the
proposed system under study. As reported early, increasing the
magnetic field increases the voltage and therefore, the electric
power output of the soft-impact piezoelectric energy generator.
This is because for a given system with a given natural
frequency, the mechanical damping ratio is inversely
proportional to the frequency, hence increasing the magnetic
field in this system increases the frequency of the system
leading to increase in the amount of power harvested since the
mechanical losses would be greatly reduced. The fluid,
however, tends to saturate at a certain magnetic field density.
Fig. 13 shows that the fluid saturates at a magnetic field of 1.0T.
The voltage or power harvested beyond this value remains
almost constant.
Fig. 13: Effect of the magnetic field on the generated voltage and power. Note
the direction of the arrows corresponding to the appropriate y-axis.
The frequency up-conversion capability of the fluid is shown in
Fig. 14. Increasing the magnetic field increases the stiffness of
the beam when it impacts the fluid. This enhances the frequency
of vibration of the piezoelectric beam. Again, because the field
saturates at 1.0T, the frequency of the system does not increase
noticeably beyond this value of the magnetic field.
Fig. 14: Frequency vs magnetic field density of the proposed energy harvester.
7
VI. CONCLUSION
The design of a soft impact magnetorheological (MR) fluid-
based piezoelectric energy harvester is proposed in this paper.
The energy generator presented here is based on the squeeze
mode of an MR fluid. The squeeze force is generated when the
piezoelectric beam impacts the fluid. The squeeze mode force
is made up of two components, namely a damping force and a
spring force. The effects of these two forces under a changing
magnetic field was studied numerically and validated
experimentally. This work is motivated by the ubiquitous use
of MR fluid devices in the automobile industry without the
necessary mechanisms to convert the waste energy absorbed by
MR dampers into a useable form. Current studies of MR fluids
are mainly focused on the characterization of the fluid particles
and optimization of the devices working on MR fluids under the
different flow modes. The study showed that increasing the
magnetic field increases the voltage generated and also up-
converts the frequency of the piezoelectric energy harvester. It
was observed the voltage generated increased from 9.29 V at
0.04T to 9.46 V at 0.08T for the numerical simulation and from
7.71V at 0.44T to 8.46 V at 0.085T for the experimental study
and correspondingly, the frequency increased from 59.58 Hz to
82.76 Hz for the numerical and 61.02 Hz to 83.04 Hz for the
experimental.
The technique demonstrated in this work is more
advantageous than the solid to solid impact-based frequency
up-conversion techniques reported in the literature. In fact, it
offers frequency tunability whiles also minimizing mechanical
buckling and fatigue of the piezoelectric cantilever beam due to
impact. Also, the Heaviside function is used to model the
impact-based system. Using this function, the time-delay
caused by the sticky and inelastic nature of the impact is best
represented. The soft-impact system also provides a wider
bandwidth than most systems reported in the literature.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors wish to acknowledge the financial support of this
work by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research
Council of Canada.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare no conflict of interest
.
REFERENCES
[1] M. A. Parvez Mahmud, N. Huda, S. H. Farjana, M.
Asadnia, and C. Lang, “Recent Advances in
Nanogenerator-Driven Self-Powered Implantable
Biomedical Devices,” Adv. Energy Mater., vol. 8, no.
2, p. 1701210, Jan. 2018.
[2] L. Zhao, H. Li, J. Meng, and Z. Li, “The recent
advances in self‐powered medical information
sensors,” InfoMat, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 212–234, Jan.
2020.
[3] L. Tang, Y. Yang, and C. K. Soh, “Toward broadband
> REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR PAPER IDENTIFICATION NUMBER (DOUBLE-CLICK HERE TO EDIT) <
vibration-based energy harvesting,” J. Intell. Mater.
Syst. Struct., vol. 21, no. 18, pp. 1867–1897, 2010.
[4] H. Yu, J. Zhou, L. Deng, and Z. Wen, “A Vibration-
Based MEMS Piezoelectric Energy Harvester and
Power Conditioning Circuit,” Sensors, vol. 14, no. 2,
pp. 3323–3341, Feb. 2014.
[5] A. Erturk, “Electromechanical Modeling of
Piezoelectric Energy Harvesters,” Virginia
Polytechnic Institute and State University, 2009.
[6] H. Li, C. Tian, and Z. D. Deng, “Energy harvesting
from low frequency applications using piezoelectric
materials,” Applied Physics Reviews, vol. 1, no. 4.
American Institute of Physics Inc., p. 041301, 01-Dec-
2014.
[7] R. Kumar and R. J. Weber, “A broadband bistable
piezoelectric cantilever-based vibration energy
harvester with nonlinear high power extraction by
Kanishka Aman Singh A dissertation submitted to the
graduate faculty in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of DOCTOR,” 2015.
[8] S. Sadeqi, “Broadening the Frequency Bandwidth of
Piezoelectric Energy Harvesters Using Coupled Linear
Resonators,” 2013.
[9] M. Gorlatova, J. Sarik, G. Grebla, M. Cong, I.
Kymissis, and G. Zussman, “Movers and Shakers:
Kinetic Energy Harvesting for the Internet of Things,”
IEEE J. Sel. Areas Commun., vol. 33, no. 8, pp. 1624–
1639, Aug. 2015.
[10] M. A. Halim, S. Khym, and J. Y. Park, “Impact based
frequency increased piezoelectric vibration energy
harvester for human motion related environments,” in
8th Annual IEEE International Conference on
Nano/Micro Engineered and Molecular Systems, IEEE
NEMS 2013, 2013, pp. 949–952.
[11] R. Dauksevicius et al., “Nonlinear piezoelectric
vibration energy harvester with frequency-tuned
impacting resonators for improving broadband
performance at low frequencies,” Smart Mater.
Struct., vol. 28, no. 2, p. 25025, 2019.
[12] D. Žižys, R. Gaidys, V. Ostaševičius, and B.
Narijauskaitė, “Vibro-shock dynamics analysis of a
tandem low frequency resonator—high frequency
piezoelectric energy harvester,” Sensors (Switzerland),
vol. 17, no. 5, pp. 1–21, 2017.
[13] M. Umeda, K. Nakamura, and S. Ueha, “Energy
Storage Characteristics of a Piezo- Generator using
Impact Induced Vibration,” Jpn. J. Appl. Phys., vol.
36, pp. 3146–3151, 1997.
[14] Z. Lin and Y. Zhang, “Dynamics of a mechanical
frequency up-converted device for wave energy
harvesting,” J. Sound Vib., vol. 367, pp. 170–184,
2016.
[15] L. Gu and C. Livermore, “Impact-driven, frequency
up-converting coupled vibration energy harvesting
device for low frequency operation,” Smart Mater.
Struct., vol. 20, no. 4, 2011.
[16] J. Zhang and L. Qin, “A tunable frequency up-
conversion wideband piezoelectric vibration energy
harvester for low-frequency variable environment
using a novel impact- and rope-driven hybrid
8
mechanism,” Appl. Energy, vol. 240, no. January, pp.
26–34, 2019.
[17] R. Stanway, “Smart fluids: Current and future
developments,” Mater. Sci. Technol., vol. 20, no. 8,
pp. 931–939, 2004.
[18] Y. D. Liu and H. J. Choi, “Electrorheological fluids:
Smart soft matter and characteristics,” Soft Matter,
vol. 8, no. 48, pp. 11961–11978, 2012.
[19] X. Zhu, X. Jing, and L. Cheng, “Magnetorheological
fluid dampers: A review on structure design and
analysis,” Journal of Intelligent Material Systems and
Structures, vol. 23, no. 8. pp. 839–873, 2012.
[20] S.-B. Choi and Y.-M. Han, Magnetorheological Fluid
Technology. 2012.
[21] S. S. Djokoto, M. Agelin-Chaab, V. Jurenas, and E.
Dragasius, “Experimental Investigation of Squeezed
MRF Film Stopper and Its Effect on Vibrating
Bimorph for Frequency Tuning of an Energy
Generator,” in Conference Proceedings - IEEE
SOUTHEASTCON, 2019, pp. 1–7.
[22] B. Kim, C. Han, S.-B. Choi, and B. Kang, “Design
and Analysis of a Magnetorheological Damper for
Airplane Landing Gear,” 2018, no. March 2018, p. 55.
[23] D. V. A. Ramasastry, K. V. Ramana, N. M. Rao, S. S.
Kumar, and T. G. L. Priyanka, “Analysis of Train
Suspension System Using MR dampers,” in IOP
Conference Series: Materials Science and
Engineering, 2016, vol. 149, no. 1.
[24] J. Koo, “Using Magneto-Rheological Dampers in
Semiactive Tuned Vibration Absorbers to Control
Structural Vibrations by Using Magneto-Rheological
Dampers in Semiactive Tuned Vibration Absorbers to
Control Structural Vibrations,” 2003.
[25] H. J. Singh and N. M. Wereley, “Optimal control of
gun recoil in direct fire using magnetorheological
absorbers,” Smart Mater. Struct., vol. 23, no. 5, 2014.
[26] A. Ulasyar and I. Lazoglu, “Design and analysis of a
new magneto rheological damper for washing
machine,” J. Mech. Sci. Technol., vol. 32, no. 4, pp.
1549–1561, 2018.
[27] L. Segel and L. Xiao-Pei, “VEHICULAR
RESISTANCE TO MOTION AS INFLUENCED BY
ROAD ROUGHNESS AND HIGHWAY
ALIGNMENT.,” Aust. road Res., vol. 12, no. 4, pp.
211–222, 1982.
[28] A. Browne and J. Hamburg, “On-Road Measurement
Of The Energy Dissipated In Automotive Shock
Absorbers,” in Symposium on Simulation and Control
of Ground Vehicles and Transportation Systems, 1986,
pp. 167–186.
[29] M. G. Fodor and R. C. Redfield, “The Variable Linear
Transmission for Regenerative Damping in Vehicle
Suspension Control,” in 1992 American Control
Conference, 1992, pp. 26–30.
[30] Z. Li, L. Zuo, G. Luhrs, L. Lin, and Y. X. Qin,
“Electromagnetic energy-harvesting shock absorbers:
Design, modeling, and road tests,” IEEE Trans. Veh.
Technol., vol. 62, no. 3, pp. 1065–1074, 2013.
[31] S.-B. Choi, M.-S. Seong, and K.-S. Kim, “Vibration
control of an electrorheological fluid-based suspension
> REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR PAPER IDENTIFICATION NUMBER (DOUBLE-CLICK HERE TO EDIT) < 9

system with an energy regenerative mechanism.” [46] P. F. Beer, E. R. Johnson, and T. J. Dewolf,
[32] L. Bowen, J. Vinolas, J. L. Olazagoitia, and J. Mechanics of Materials, 4th ed. New York: McGraw
Echavarri Otero, “An Innovative Energy Harvesting Hill, 2006.
Shock Absorber System Using Cable Transmission,” [47] W. Al-Ashtari, M. Hunstig, T. Hemsel, and W. Sextro,
IEEE/ASME Trans. Mechatronics, vol. 24, no. 2, pp. “Analytical determination of characteristic frequencies
689–699, Apr. 2019. and equivalent circuit parameters of a piezoelectric
[33] S. Guo, L. Xu, Y. Liu, X. Guo, and L. Zuo, “Modeling bimorph,” J. Intell. Mater. Syst. Struct., vol. 23, no. 1,
and Experiments of a Hydraulic Electromagnetic pp. 15–23, 2012.
Energy-Harvesting Shock Absorber,” IEEE/ASME [48] W. G. Ali and S. W. Ibrahim, “Power Analysis for
Trans. Mechatronics, vol. 22, no. 6, pp. 2684–2694, Piezoelectric Energy Harvester,” Energy Power Eng.,
Dec. 2017. vol. 04, no. 06, pp. 496–505, 2012.
[34] B. Sapiński, M. Węgrzynowski, and J. Nabielec,
“Magnetorheological damper–based positioning
system with power generation,” J. Intell. Mater. Syst.
Struct., vol. 29, no. 6, pp. 1236–1254, Apr. 2018.
[35] G. Hu, Y. Lu, S. Sun, and W. Li, “Performance
Analysis of a Magnetorheological Damper with
Energy Harvesting Ability,” Shock Vib., vol. 2016,
2016.
[36] S. Kaluvan, H.-C. Kim, J.-S. Oh, and S.-B. Choi, “A
State-of Art of Creative Sensor Devices Utilizing
Magneto- Rheological Fluids,” Int. J. Mech. Syst.
Eng., vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 1–7, 2015.
[37] T. L. Ren et al., “Micromachined piezoelectric devices
for acoustic applications,” in 2012 IEEE International
Conference on Electron Devices and Solid State
Circuit, EDSSC 2012, 2012, pp. 1–4.
[38] Johnson Matthey Piezoproducts Bahnhofstraße 43,
“Data Sheet Piezoceramic Trimorph Bending
Actuator, Part No. 427.0085.11Z,, D-96254 Redwitz.”
.
[39] M. Nagurka and S. Huang, “A mass-spring-damper
model of a bouncing ball,” in Proceedings of the
American Control Conference, 2004, vol. 1, no. 3, pp.
499–504.
[40] M. A. Halim, S. Khym, and J. Y. Park, “Impact based
frequency increased piezoelectric vibration energy
harvester for human motion related environments,”
8th Annu. IEEE Int. Conf. Nano/Micro Eng. Mol. Syst.
IEEE NEMS 2013, vol. 1, no. c, pp. 949–952, 2013.
[41] Y. Liao and H. A. Sodano, “Modeling and comparison
of bimorph power harvesters with piezoelectric
elements connected in parallel and series,” J. Intell.
Mater. Syst. Struct., vol. 21, no. 2, pp. 149–159, 2010.
[42] “Lord Corporarion,MRF-140CG, Magneto-
Rheological Fluid,” Lord product selector guide: lord
magnetorheological fluids, 2014. .
[43] A. Spaggiari, D. Castagnetti, N. Golinelli, E. Dragoni,
and G. Scirè Mammano, “Smart materials: Properties,
design and mechatronic applications,” Proc. Inst.
Mech. Eng. Part L J. Mater. Des. Appl., vol. 233, no.
4, pp. 734–762, 2019.
[44] S. Kaluvan, K. Shah, and S. B. Choi, “A new resonant
based measurement method for squeeze mode yield
stress of magnetorheological fluids,” Smart Mater.
Struct., vol. 23, no. 11, 2014.
[45] S. Roundy, P. K. Wright, and J. Rabaey, “A study of
low level vibrations as a power source for wireless
sensor nodes,” Comput. Commun., vol. 26, no. 11, pp.
1131–1144, 2003.

View publication stats