Research on the bouncing-ball based triboelectric nanogenerator for self-powered vibration frequency monitoring

Traditional vibration sensor of ship machinery using cable for power supply cannot meet the requirements of a large number of distributed sensors of the intelligent ship. A bouncing-ball based triboelectric nanogenerator (BB-TENG) to be used as a self-powered vibration frequency monitoring sensor is proposed. In the sensing test, the vibration frequency of 15 ∼ 50 Hz under different amplitudes can be measured accurately. The frequency calculation of the voltage signal can accurately reflect external vibration frequency, while the change of short-circuit current has linear relationship with the frequency, and the correlation coefficient is about 0.99. In addition, electrical signal test results and photos taken by high-speed cameras show that the limit of the available detection frequency of BB-TENG increases with the increase of amplitude and support height. The electrical output of BB-TENG under different working conditions are tested, which provides the basis for selecting suitable BB-TENG according to different vibration characteristics.