A magnetic–piezoelectric smart material-structure utilizing magnetic force interaction to optimize the sensitivity of current sensing

This paper presents a magnetic–piezoelectric smart material-structure using a novel magnetic-force-interaction approach to optimize the sensitivity of conventional piezoelectric current sensing technologies. The smart material-structure comprises a CuBe-alloy cantilever beam, a piezoelectric PZT sheet clamped to the fixed end of the beam, and an NdFeB permanent magnet mounted on the free end of the beam. When the smart material-structure is placed close to an AC conductor, the magnet on the beam of the smart structure experiences an alternating magnetic attractive and repulsive force produced by the conductor. Thus, the beam vibrates and subsequently generates a strain in the PZT sheet. The strain produces a voltage output because of the piezoelectric effect. The magnetic force interaction is specifically enhanced through the optimization approach (i.e., achieved by using SQUID and machining method to reorient the magnetization to different directions to maximize the magnetic force interaction). After optimizing, the beam’s vibration amplitude is significantly enlarged and, consequently, the voltage output is substantially increased. The experimental results indicated that the smart material-structure optimized by the proposed approach produced a voltage output of 4.01 V _rms with a sensitivity of 501 m V _rms /A when it was placed close to a conductor with a current of 8 A at 60 Hz. The optimized voltage output and sensitivity of the proposed smart structure were approximately 316 % higher than those (1.27 V _rms with 159 m V _rms /A) of representative piezoelectric-based current sensing technologies presented in other studies. These improvements can significantly enable the development of more self-powered wireless current sensing applications in the future.