Approximate analytical solutions of the 1:3 internal resonance response of piezoelectric energy harvester considering two types of coupled frequency components

The 1:3 internal resonance effect in the L-shaped piezoelectric vibration energy harvester leads to an expanded frequency band for energy harvesting and better matching of external excitation frequency in the environment. The electromechanical-coupled governing equations for this vibration energy harvester have been validated in our previous work (Nie et al., 2019). The effect of load resistance on the energy harvester’s natural frequency and damping ratio is addressed. The quadratic and cubic nonlinearities in this system leads to two types of coupled frequency components appear, they ultimately affect the approximate solution of the voltage response. The method of multiple scales is used to derive the two types of coupled frequency components of the system along with their contribution to the output responses. The revised approximate analytical solutions of the output responses are then presented. The system’s stability is assessed through the Jacobi matrix of modulation equations. The nonlinear softening phenomenon that favors the broadening of the bandwidth of the energy harvester is analyzed. The vibration patterns in regions with nonlinear softening and non-softening behavior are investigated through frequency spectra, phase trajectories, and Poincaré cross-sections. The findings reveal that the load resistance significantly affects the damping ratio of the harvester. Inclusion of quadratic and cubic nonlinearities results in three frequency components in the output responses spectrum, with an approximate ratio of 1:2:3. Two types of coupled frequency components appeared in the spectrum of the system’s output responses. The contribution of coupled frequency components to the output response proves crucial, and the revised approximate solutions are in good agreement with that of numerical solutions. The output responses are significantly affected by the initial conditions in the nonlinear softening region, the large and small initial conditions yield solutions in the upper and lower branches, respectively.