Electromechanical conversion of low-grade heat into electricity with shape memory alloy actuators

Abstract

An energy harvesting prototype is presented to electromechanically convert low grade heat into electricity using shape memory alloy (SMA) actuators. A model is presented for the system, and the relationship between the SMA temperature and the angle of rotation of the generator is experimentally validated. The ability of the SMA energy harvesting prototype to cyclically oscillate is also demonstrated. A 10.2V peak voltage is generated with the energy harvesting prototype.