A study on energy harvesting through the use of electromagnetic dampers in motion control schemes

Thesis (M. Eng.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 2010.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 29).In recent years, there is a trend in most fields toward more environmentally friendly products and processes. This trend toward sustainable living is often dubbed the "Green Revolution". Because the Green Revolution is concerned with environmentally friendly ways of energy production, and structural engineering often has the task of controlling and dissipating energy, the logical step would be to unite the two concepts. This study investigates the use of the electromagnetic damper as an energy harvesting device in multiple damping schemes. It is shown that the use of the electromagnetic damper in a tuned mass damper scheme produces the most available energy to be harvested.by Geoffrey Bomarito.M.Eng