IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/energy/v329y2025ics0360544225023801.html

Double-mass pendulum energy harvester with tunable ultra-low frequency: An experimental study

Author

Listed:
  • Cai, Qinlin
  • Dai, Kaoshan
  • Zhu, Songye

Abstract

Nonlinear widening and frequency tuning strategies are two typical approaches to enhance the energy harvesting performance of a vibration-based energy harvester. Double-mass pendulum energy harvester (DMPEH) is a recently emerging oscillator with tunable ultra-low frequencies for wave energy harvesting. This study systematically investigates the nonlinear dynamics and energy harvesting capacity of the DMPEH through numerical simulations and experimental tests. First, the DMPEH mathematical model is established. Subsequently, the numerical studies on the dynamics and power performance of the DMPEH are performed, followed by the shake table tests on a scaled prototype. Several observations are made: (1) the load resistance influences both the nonlinear dynamics and the output power; (2) by using frequency tuning strategy, the output power was dramatically improved, high to hundreds of percentages improvement compared with the un-tuned counterpart. Moreover, the power generation performance of a medium-scale broadband DMPEH for a navigation buoy is discussed. Sufficient power levels are demonstrated, supporting the development of self-powered navigation buoys. The results demonstrate the promising energy harvesting performance of the DMPEH and its potential to serve as a frequency-tunable broadband energy harvester. This study makes a step toward practical applications of DMPEH for ocean wave energy harvesting.

Suggested Citation

  • Cai, Qinlin & Dai, Kaoshan & Zhu, Songye, 2025. "Double-mass pendulum energy harvester with tunable ultra-low frequency: An experimental study," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 329(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:329:y:2025:i:c:s0360544225023801
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2025.136738
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544225023801
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.energy.2025.136738?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Li, Mingxue & Zhang, Yufeng & Li, Kexin & Zhang, Yiwen & Xu, Kaixuan & Liu, Xiaoqiang & Zhong, Shaoxuan & Cao, Jiamu, 2022. "Self-powered wireless sensor system for water monitoring based on low-frequency electromagnetic-pendulum energy harvester," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 251(C).
    2. Fu, Hailing & Yeatman, Eric M., 2017. "A methodology for low-speed broadband rotational energy harvesting using piezoelectric transduction and frequency up-conversion," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 152-161.
    3. Yang, Fan & Gao, Mingyuan & Wang, Ping & Zuo, Jianyong & Dai, Jun & Cong, Jianli, 2021. "Efficient piezoelectric harvester for random broadband vibration of rail," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 218(C).
    4. Cordonnier, J. & Gorintin, F. & De Cagny, A. & Clément, A.H. & Babarit, A., 2015. "SEAREV: Case study of the development of a wave energy converter," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 40-52.
    5. Cong, Moyue & Gao, Yongzhuo & Wang, Weidong & He, Long & Mao, Xiwang & Long, Yi & Dong, Wei, 2024. "A broadband hybrid energy harvester with displacement amplification decoupling structure for ultra-low vibration energy harvesting," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 290(C).
    6. Cai, Qinlin & Zhu, Songye, 2022. "The nexus between vibration-based energy harvesting and structural vibration control: A comprehensive review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    7. Wang, Tao & Lou, Hu & Zhu, Shiqiang, 2022. "Bandwidth enhancement of a gimbaled-pendulum vibration energy harvester using spatial multi-stable mechanism," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 326(C).
    8. Wang, Feng & Sun, Xiuting & Xu, Jian, 2018. "A novel energy harvesting device for ultralow frequency excitation," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 250-260.
    9. Zhou, Zhiyong & Qin, Weiyang & Zhu, Pei & Du, Wenfeng, 2021. "Harvesting more energy from variable-speed wind by a multi-stable configuration with vortex-induced vibration and galloping," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 237(C).
    10. Xie, Xiangdong & Zhang, Jiankun & Wang, Zijing & Li, Lingjie & Du, Guofeng, 2024. "The effect of magnetic proof masses on the energy harvesting bandwidth of piezoelectric coupled cantilever array," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 353(PA).
    11. Dong, Liwei & Zuo, Jianyong & Wang, Tianpeng & Xue, Wenbin & Wang, Ping & Li, Jun & Yang, Fan, 2022. "Enhanced piezoelectric harvester for track vibration based on tunable broadband resonant methodology," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 254(PA).
    12. Li, Meng & Jing, Xingjian, 2019. "Novel tunable broadband piezoelectric harvesters for ultralow-frequency bridge vibration energy harvesting," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 255(C).
    13. Yang, Xin & Lai, Siu-Kai & Wang, Chen & Wang, Jia-Mei & Ding, Hu, 2022. "On a spring-assisted multi-stable hybrid-integrated vibration energy harvester for ultra-low-frequency excitations," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 252(C).
    14. Zhou, Ran & Yan, Mingyin & Sun, Feng & Jin, Junjie & Li, Qiang & Xu, Fangchao & Zhang, Ming & Zhang, Xiaoyou & Nakano, Kimihiko, 2022. "Experimental validations of a magnetic energy-harvesting suspension and its potential application for self-powered sensing," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(PC).
    15. Wang, Chen & Lai, Siu-Kai & Wang, Jia-Mei & Feng, Jing-Jing & Ni, Yi-Qing, 2021. "An ultra-low-frequency, broadband and multi-stable tri-hybrid energy harvester for enabling the next-generation sustainable power," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 291(C).
    16. Wu, Yipeng & Qiu, Jinhao & Zhou, Shengpeng & Ji, Hongli & Chen, Yang & Li, Sen, 2018. "A piezoelectric spring pendulum oscillator used for multi-directional and ultra-low frequency vibration energy harvesting," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 231(C), pages 600-614.
    17. Cai, Qinlin & Zhu, Songye, 2021. "Applying double-mass pendulum oscillator with tunable ultra-low frequency in wave energy converters," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 298(C).
    18. Halim, M.A. & Rantz, R. & Zhang, Q. & Gu, L. & Yang, K. & Roundy, S., 2018. "An electromagnetic rotational energy harvester using sprung eccentric rotor, driven by pseudo-walking motion," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 217(C), pages 66-74.
    19. Shi, Ge & Tong, Dike & Xia, Yinshui & Jia, Shengyao & Chang, Jian & Li, Qing & Wang, Xiudeng & Xia, Huakang & Ye, Yidie, 2022. "A piezoelectric vibration energy harvester for multi-directional and ultra-low frequency waves with magnetic coupling driven by rotating balls," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 310(C).
    20. Pan, Jianan & Qin, Weiyang & Deng, Wangzheng & Zhang, Pengtian & Zhou, Zhiyong, 2021. "Harvesting weak vibration energy by integrating piezoelectric inverted beam and pendulum," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 227(C).
    21. Viet, N.V. & Wang, Q., 2018. "Ocean wave energy pitching harvester with a frequency tuning capability," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 603-617.
    22. Bai, Shanming & Cui, Juan & Zheng, Yongqiu & Li, Gang & Liu, Tingshan & Liu, Yabing & Hao, Congcong & Xue, Chenyang, 2023. "Electromagnetic-triboelectric energy harvester based on vibration-to-rotation conversion for human motion energy exploitation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 329(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Cai, Qinlin & Zhu, Songye, 2021. "Applying double-mass pendulum oscillator with tunable ultra-low frequency in wave energy converters," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 298(C).
    2. Tang, Tianyi & Li, Yunfei & Huang, Manjuan & Mei, Mingqi & Wang, Zizhao & Zha, Fusheng & Sun, Lining & Liu, Huicong, 2025. "Ultra-low-frequency and high-power Mag-Boost mechanism for ocean wave energy harvesting," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 213(C).
    3. Castellano-Aldave, Carlos & Carlosena, Alfonso & Iriarte, Xabier & Plaza, Aitor, 2023. "Ultra-low frequency multidirectional harvester for wind turbines," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 334(C).
    4. Qu, Shuai & Ren, Yuhao & Hu, Guobiao & Ding, Wei & Dong, Liwei & Yang, Jizhong & Wu, Zaixin & Zhu, Shengyang & Yang, Yaowen & Zhai, Wanming, 2024. "Event-driven piezoelectric energy harvesting for railway field applications," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 364(C).
    5. Jiatong Chen & Bin Bao & Jinlong Liu & Yufei Wu & Quan Wang, 2022. "Pendulum Energy Harvesters: A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(22), pages 1-26, November.
    6. Zuo, Jianyong & Dong, Liwei & Yang, Fan & Guo, Ziheng & Wang, Tianpeng & Zuo, Lei, 2023. "Energy harvesting solutions for railway transportation: A comprehensive review," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 202(C), pages 56-87.
    7. Pu, Hua-Yan & Liu, Jun & Wang, Min & Ding, Ji-Heng & Peng, Yan & Luo, Jun & Sun, Yi, 2024. "Ultra-low frequency and small-amplitude electromagnetic vibration energy harvester considering rotary multi-magnetic-electrical-mechanical coupling," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 375(C).
    8. Wang, Tao & Lv, Haobin & Wang, Xin, 2024. "Development of an electromagnetic energy harvester for ultra-low frequency pitch vibration of unmanned marine devices," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 353(PA).
    9. Yang, Xin & Lai, Siu-Kai & Wang, Chen & Wang, Jia-Mei & Ding, Hu, 2022. "On a spring-assisted multi-stable hybrid-integrated vibration energy harvester for ultra-low-frequency excitations," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 252(C).
    10. Xiong, Chao & Qiu, Jing & Zhang, Zhenming & Nong, Aocheng & Li, Mingyu & Cao, Cong & Han, Zhounan, 2026. "An electromagnetic-piezoelectric high-efficiency hybrid wave energy harvester with direction self-adaptive characteristics based on an asymmetric rotating pendulum," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 347(C).
    11. Shen, Jiwei & Wan, Shui & Fu, Jundong & Li, Shuli & Lv, Debao & Dekemele, Kevin, 2024. "A magnetic plucking frequency up-conversion piezoelectric energy harvester with nonlinear energy sink structure," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 376(PB).
    12. Sun, Hongjun & Yang, Zhen & Li, Jinxia & Ding, Hongbing & Lv, Pengfei, 2024. "Performance evaluation and optimal design for passive turbulence control-based hydrokinetic energy harvester using EWM-based TOPSIS," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 298(C).
    13. Tang, Tianyi & Zhao, Heng & Li, Yunfei & Zha, Fusheng & Sun, Lining & Liu, Huicong, 2026. "Double-stage frequency-boost mechanism for high-power wave energy harvesting from ultra-low frequency ocean excitations," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 256(PD).
    14. Rolo, Pedro & Vidal, João V. & Kholkin, Andrei L. & Alves, Luis Nero & Soares dos Santos, Marco P., 2025. "Multidimensional vibrationally driven energy generation: State-of-the-art review and modelling generalization," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 396(C).
    15. Wuwei Feng & Hongya Chen & Qingping Zou & Di Wang & Xiang Luo & Cathal Cummins & Chuanqiang Zhang & Shujie Yang & Yuxiang Su, 2024. "A Contactless Coupled Pendulum and Piezoelectric Wave Energy Harvester: Model and Experiment," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-20, February.
    16. Cao, Dong-Xing & Lu, Yi-Ming & Lai, Siu-Kai & Mao, Jia-Jia & Guo, Xiang-Ying & Shen, Yong-Jun, 2022. "A novel soft encapsulated multi-directional and multi-modal piezoelectric vibration energy harvester," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 254(PB).
    17. Sun, Ruqi & Ma, He & Zhou, Shengxi & Li, Zhongjie & Cheng, Li, 2024. "A direction-adaptive ultra-low frequency energy harvester with an aligning turntable," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 311(C).
    18. Wang, Jian-Xu & Su, Wen-Bin & Li, Ji-Chao & Wang, Chun-Ming, 2022. "A rotational piezoelectric energy harvester based on trapezoid beam: Simulation and experiment," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 619-626.
    19. Ilgvars Gorņevs & Juris Blūms, 2023. "Enhancing the Performance of Human Motion Energy Harvesting through Optimal Smoothing Capacity in the Rectifier," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-16, September.
    20. Wang, Zhemin & Du, Yu & Li, Tianrun & Yan, Zhimiao & Tan, Ting, 2021. "A flute-inspired broadband piezoelectric vibration energy harvesting device with mechanical intelligent design," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 303(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:329:y:2025:i:c:s0360544225023801. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.