Vibration energy harvesting using the Halbach array

Abstract

This paper studies the feasibility of vibration energy harvesting using a Halbach array. A Halbach array is a specific arrangement of permanent magnets that concentrates the magnetic field on one side of the array while cancelling the field to almost zero on the other side. This arrangement can improve electromagnetic coupling in a limited space. The Halbach array offers an advantage over conventional layouts of magnets in terms of its concentrated magnetic field and low-profile structure, which helps improve the output power of electromagnetic energy harvesters while minimizing their size. Another benefit of the Halbach array is that due to the existence of an almost-zero magnetic field zone, electronic components can be placed close to the energy harvester without any chance of interference, which can potentially reduce the overall size of a self-powered device. The first reported example of a low-profile, planar electromagnetic vibration energy harvester utilizing a Halbach array was built and tested. Results were compared to ones for energy harvesters with conventional magnet layouts. By comparison, it is concluded that although energy harvesters with a Halbach array can have higher magnetic field density, a higher output power requires careful design in order to achieve the maximum magnetic flux gradient.

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Identifiers

ORCID for Dibin Zhu: orcid.org/0000-0003-0517-3974

ORCID for Steve Beeby: orcid.org/0000-0002-0800-1759

ORCID for John Tudor: orcid.org/0000-0003-1179-9455

ORCID for Nick Harris: orcid.org/0000-0003-4122-2219

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