Design, Fabrication, and Prototyping of a Single Degree of Freedom Compliant Mechanism for Energy Harvesting Applications

Authors

• Izayah Jahde Morris, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

First Advisor

Carl A. Nelson

Date of this Version

5-2026

Document Type

Thesis

Citation

A thesis presented to the faculty of the Graduate College at the University of Nebraska in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Master of Science

Major: Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics

Under the supervision of Professor Carl A. Nelson

Lincoln, Nebraska, May 2026

Comments

Copyright 2026, Izayah Jahde Morris. Used by permission

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to demonstrate the potential of a single‑degree‑of‑freedom compliant mechanism as a tunable component in an electromagnetic energy harvester. The mechanism’s geometry is designed to be adjusted for different environmental excitation conditions, and a preliminary harvester configuration is fabricated and tested. The tuned mechanism parameters are obtained experimentally, and the assembled system is subjected to controlled excitations to characterize its energy generation performance. The analytical model of the compliant mechanism shows strong agreement with experimental results, validating the design methodology. The harvested energy levels and power metrics demonstrate performance comparable to previously developed electromagnetic energy harvesters, indicating that continued investigation of these mechanisms is both plausible and beneficial. Overall, the results support the use of a single-degree-of-freedom compliant mechanism to optimize and effectively capture energy in railway crossing applications.

Advisor: Carl A. Nelson