Energy Harvesting from Train-Induced Response in Bridges

Abstract

The integration of large infrastructure with energy-harvesting systems is a growing field with potentially new and important applications. The possibility of energy harvesting from ambient vibration of bridges is a new field in this regard. This paper investigates the feasibility of energy harvesting for a number of trains considering their passage over a bridge. The power that can be derived from an energy-harvesting device due to a train crossing a bridge at different speeds is compared against typical demands of small wireless devices and is found to be adequate for powering such devices. These estimates of harvested energy also relate to the individual signatures of trains. In this work, the modeled dynamic responses of a bridge traversed by trains are compared against full-scale experimental analysis of train–bridge interactions. A potential application in structural health monitoring (SHM) using energy harvesting has also been demonstrated and compared with laboratory experimental data. Consistent and monotonic damage calibration curves have been constructed using estimated harvested energy.