Numerical study and design optimization of electromagnetic energy harvesters integrated with flexible magnetic materials

This study presents a new design of an electromagnetic energy harvester integrated with a soft magnetic material. The harvester design optimizes the magnetic material characteristics and the size of a rectangular permanent magnet. The design employs a complete magnetic circuit made of (1) a thin-film soft magnetic material that facilitates a flexible but highly (magnetically) permeable beam and (2) an optimally-sized magnet that maximizes the harvester performance. The design is demonstrated to reduce magnetic flux leakage, and thus considerably enhances both magnetic flux density (B) and its change by time (dB/dt), which both influence harvester performance. The improvement in harvester performances strongly depends on critical design parameters, especially, the magnet size and characteristics of magnetic materials, including permeability, stiffness, and thickness. The analyses conclude that recently-introduced nanomaterials (having ultrahigh magnetic permeability) can potentially innovate harvester performances. However, the performance may be degraded without design optimization. Once optimized, the integrated nanomaterials facilitate a significant improvement compared with a conventional design without integrated magnetic materials.