Lihua Tang

Bio: Lihua Tang is an academic researcher from University of Auckland. The author has contributed to research in topics: Energy harvesting & Vibration. The author has an hindex of 38, co-authored 177 publications receiving 4947 citations. Previous affiliations of Lihua Tang include Shanghai Jiao Tong University & Nanyang Technological University.

Toward Broadband Vibration-based Energy Harvesting

Abstract: The dramatic reduction in power consumption of current integrated circuits has evoked great research interests in harvesting ambient energy, such as vibrations, as a potential power supply for electronic devices to avoid battery replacement. Currently, most vibration-based energy harvesters are designed as linear resonators to achieve optimal performance by matching their resonance frequencies with the ambient excitation frequencies a priori. However, a slight shift of the excitation frequency will cause a dramatic reduction in performance. Unfortunately, in the vast majority of practical cases, the ambient vibrations are frequency-varying or totally random with energy distributed over a wide frequency spectrum. Hence, developing techniques to increase the bandwidth of vibration-based energy harvesters has become the next important problem in energy harvesting. This article reviews the advances made in the past few years on this issue. The broadband vibration-based energy harvesting solutions, covering re...

A nonlinear piezoelectric energy harvester with magnetic oscillator

Abstract: This letter proposes a magnetic coupled piezoelectric energy harvester (PEH), in which the magnetic interaction is introduced by a magnetic oscillator. For comparison purpose, lumped parameter models are established for the conventional linear PEH, the nonlinear PEH with a fixed magnet, and the proposed PEH with a magnetic oscillator. Both experiment and simulation show the benefits from the dynamics of the magnetic oscillator. In the experiment, nearly 100% increase in the operating bandwidth and 41% increase in the magnitude of the power output are achieved at an excitation level of 2 m/s2.

Equivalent Circuit Modeling of Piezoelectric Energy Harvesters

Abstract: Last decade has seen growing research interest in vibration energy harvesting using piezoelectric materials. When developing piezoelectric energy harvesting systems, it is advantageous to establish certain analytical or numerical model to predict the system performance. In the last few years, researchers from mechanical engineering established distributed models for energy harvester but simplified the energy harvesting circuit in the analytical derivation. While, researchers from electrical engineering concerned the modeling of practical energy harvesting circuit but tended to simplify the structural and mechanical conditions. The challenges for accurate modeling of such electromechanical coupling systems remain when complicated mechanical conditions and practical energy harvesting circuit are considered in system design. In this article, the aforementioned problem is addressed by employing an equivalent circuit model, which bridges structural modeling and electrical simulation. First, the parameters in t...

Comparative study of tip cross-sections for efficient galloping energy harvesting

Abstract: This letter presents a comparative study of different tip cross-sections for small scale wind energy harvesting based on galloping phenomenon. A prototype device is fabricated with a piezoelectric cantilever and a tip body with various cross-section profiles (square, rectangle, triangle, and D-shape) and tested in a wind tunnel. Experimental results demonstrate the superiority of the square-sectioned tip for the low cut-in wind speed of 2.5 m/s and the high peak power of 8.4 mW. An analytical model is established and verified by the experimental results. It is recommended that the square section should be used for small wind galloping energy harvesters.

Improving functionality of vibration energy harvesters using magnets

Abstract: In recent years, several strategies have been proposed to improve the functionality of energy harvesters under broadband vibrations, but they only improve the efficiency of energy harvesting under limited conditions. In this work, a comprehensive experimental study is conducted to investigate the use of magnets for improving the functionality of energy harvesters under various vibration scenarios. First, the nonlinearities introduced by magnets are exploited to improve the performance of vibration energy harvesting. Both monostable and bistable configurations are investigated under sinusoidal and random vibrations with various excitation levels. The optimal nonlinear configuration (in terms of distance between magnets) is determined to be near the monostable-to-bistable transition region. Results show that both monostable and bistable nonlinear configurations can significantly outperform the linear harvester near this transition region. Second, for ultra-low-frequency vibration scenarios such as wave heav...

A review of the recent research on vibration energy harvesting via bistable systems

Abstract: The investigation of the conversion of vibrational energy into electrical power has become a major field of research. In recent years, bistable energy harvesting devices have attracted significant attention due to some of their unique features. Through a snap-through action, bistable systems transition from one stable state to the other, which could cause large amplitude motion and dramatically increase power generation. Due to their nonlinear characteristics, such devices may be effective across a broad-frequency bandwidth. Consequently, a rapid engagement of research has been undertaken to understand bistable electromechanical dynamics and to utilize the insight for the development of improved designs. This paper reviews, consolidates, and reports on the major efforts and findings documented in the literature. A common analytical framework for bistable electromechanical dynamics is presented, the principal results are provided, the wide variety of bistable energy harvesters are described, and some remaining challenges and proposed solutions are summarized.

A review of piezoelectric polymers as functional materials for electromechanical transducers

Abstract: Polymer based MEMS and microfluidic devices have the advantages of mechanical flexibility, lower fabrication cost and faster processing over silicon based ones. Also, many polymer materials are considered biocompatible and can be used in biological applications. A valuable class of polymers for microfabricated devices is piezoelectric functional polymers. In addition to the normal advantages of polymers, piezoelectric polymers can be directly used as an active material in different transduction applications. This paper gives an overview of piezoelectric polymers based on their operating principle. This includes three main categories: bulk piezoelectric polymers, piezocomposites and voided charged polymers. State-of-the-art piezopolymers of each category are presented with a focus on fabrication techniques and material properties. A comparison between the different piezoelectric polymers and common inorganic piezoelectric materials (PZT, ZnO, AlN and PMN?PT) is also provided in terms of piezoelectric properties. The use of piezopolymers in different electromechanical devices is also presented. This includes tactile sensors, energy harvesters, acoustic transducers and inertial sensors.

Harmonic-resonator-based triboelectric nanogenerator as a sustainable power source and a self-powered active vibration sensor.

Abstract: A harmonic-resonator-based triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) is presented as a sustainable power source and an active vibration sensor. It can effectively respond to vibration frequencies ranging from 2 to 200 Hz with a considerably wide working bandwidth of 13.4 Hz. This work not only presents a new principle in the field of vibration energy harvesting but also greatly expands the applicability of TENGs.