Insights into the regulation mechanism of ring-shaped magnetoelectric energy harvesters via mechanical and magnetic conditions

This paper presents a theoretical model for predicting and tuning magnetoelectric (ME) effect of ring-shaped composites, in which stress boundary conditions are empoyed and the multi-field coupling property of giant magnetostrictive materials are taken into account. A linear analytical solutions for the closed- and open-circuit ME voltages are derived simultaneously using mechanical differential equations, interface and boundary conditions, and electrical equations. For nonlinear ME coupling effect, the nonlinear multi-field coupling constitutive equation is reduced to an equivalent form by expanding the strains as a Taylor series in the vicinity of bias magnetic field. Sequentially, the linear model is generalized to a nonlinear one involving the field-dependent material parameters. The results show that setting a stress-free condition is beneficial for reducing resonance frequency while applying clamped conditions on the inner and outer boundaries may improve the maximum output power density. In addition, performing stress conditions on one of the boundaries may enhance ME coupling significantly, without changing the corresponding resonance frequency and optimal resistance. When external stimuli like bias magnetic field and pre-stress are applied to the ring-shaped composites, a novel dual peak phenomenon in the ME voltage curve around resonance frequencies is revealed theoretically, indicating that strong ME coupling may be achieved within a wider bias field region. Eventually, the mutual coordination of the bias field and pre-stress may enhance ME coupling as well as tuning the resonance frequency, and thus is pivotal for tunable control of ME energy harvesters. The proposed model can be applied to design high-performance energy harvesters by manipulating the mechanical conditions and external stimuli. (paper)