Performance Analysis of a Ferrofluid-Based Electromagnetic Energy Harvester

This paper presents a detailed investigation of the influence of several design parameters on the performance of a ferrofluid-based electromagnetic energy harvester which converts ambient vibratory energy into an electromotive force through the sloshing motion of a ferrofluid. To this end, a computational model is developed and validated against the experimental data. Using the validated model, a series of numerical simulations are performed on two configurations of the energy harvester to study the effects of the magnetic and sloshing parameters on the electromotive force. Results of the performance analysis provide useful insights for designing high-performance ferrofluid-based energy harvesters.