Invitation: MS Thesis Defense of Yashraj Singh Chauhan

Hello ME Community,
You are invited to join the MS Thesis Defense of Yashraj Singh Chauhan, on Thursday, May 21, beginning at 10:30am.  The defense will be presented in person in the Engineering Building room 112.

Advisor: Dr. Soobum Lee

Title: Design and Performance Comparison of Non-Contact Disc Triboelectric and Electromagnetic Harvesters

Abstract:  Comparing energy-harvesting technologies is not simple because the measured performance depends not only on the working principle, but also on factors such as geometry, air gap, rotational speed, and load resistance. This thesis addresses this issue by presenting a matched-condition comparison of two non-contact disc-type rotary harvesters built under the same mechanical constraints: a triboelectric energy harvester (TEH) and an electromagnetic energy harvester (EMEH). Each harvester is composed of a rotor and stator, and multiple gratings (TEH) or multipole magnet/coil (EMEH) to be placed accordingly. Both devices share the identical disc diameter and the rotor–stator air gap , under the motor-driven operating rotational speed of 200–250 RPM. Performance is evaluated using a single objective to maximize electrical power determined from systematic resistive load sweep tests.

To support design and interpretation of results, analytical models are developed for each energy harvesting concept. The TEH model is adapted from non-contact rotary disk triboelectric to predict voltage, transferred charge, and load-dependent power under the specified gap condition. The EMEH model combines flux-linkage-based induction with a lumped electrical equivalent circuit (induced source, coil resistance, and coil inductance), implemented using a trapezoidal single-phase planar coil  on a stator. Prototypes are fabricated within a common disc envelope and experimentally characterized at selected RPM values. The matched-input results quantify maximum power trends of triboelectric versus electromagnetic rotary harvesters.