Nonlinear analysis for dual-frequency concurrent energy harvesting

The dual-frequency responses of the hybrid energy harvester undergoing the base excitation and galloping were analyzed numerically. In this work, an approximate dual-frequency analytical method is proposed for the nonlinear analysis of such a system. To obtain the approximate analytical solutions of the full coupled distributed-parameter model, the forcing interactions is first neglected. Then, the electromechanical decoupled governing equation is developed using the equivalent structure method. The hybrid mechanical response is finally separated to be the self-excited and forced responses for deriving the analytical solutions, which are confirmed by the numerical simulations of the full coupled model. The forced response has great impacts on the self-excited response. The boundary of Hopf bifurcation is analytically determined by the onset wind speed to galloping, which is linearly increased by the electrical damping. Quenching phenomenon appears when the increasing base excitation suppresses the galloping. The theoretical quenching boundary depends on the forced mode velocity. The quenching region increases with the base acceleration and electrical damping, but decreases with the wind speed. Superior to the base-excitation-alone case, the existence of the aerodynamic force protects the hybrid energy harvester at resonance from damages caused by the excessive large displacement. From the view of the harvested power, the hybrid system surpasses the base-excitation-alone system or the galloping-alone system. This study advances our knowledge on intrinsic nonlinear dynamics of the dual-frequency energy harvesting system by taking advantage of the analytical solutions.