Effect on Coil Voltage by Varying the Size of Galfenol in Magnetostrictive Energy Harvester

Abstract

Iron-gallium alloys, known as Galfenol, can generate electrical energy from ambient vibrations. The device consists of a strip of Magnetostrictive Material Galfenol combined with a stainless-steel frame, copper coil, bias magnet, and soft iron to hold the bias magnet together. The total length of the energy harvester is 120 mm and a sinusoidal force is provided at the tip of the energy harvester. This paper deals with the experimental output of coil voltage obtained by varying the size of Galfenol and bias magnet (up to a possible range). The Magnetostrictive material (Galfenol) is varied from a length of 26 mm to 48 mm, similarly, these bias magnets are also varied from a length of 6 mm each to 11.5 mm each. Different values of coil voltage are obtained from different values of the length.