Keywords: energy harvesting, half-wave mechanical motion rectification, railroad tie, field testing, tie, power generation.

This study provides the design and performance evaluation of a novel energy harvesting tie for railroad applications. The design concepts will describe the working principle and successful implementation of a kinetic energy harvesting mechanism in a conventional railroad tie. The evaluation includes both laboratory and field testing of a prototype energy harvesting tie. The tie is of identical dimensions to a standard railroad tie and can harvest the kinetic energy of the track’s downward movement under passing wheels, without resisting the upward (rebound) movement. Two energy harvesters, placed directly under each rail, are integrated into a composite tie. The small rail movement is converted into rotational motion to operate two generators using novel ball-screw, half-wave mechanical motion rectification (HMMR) mechanisms. To assess the practical effectiveness of the proposed energy harvesting tie, laboratory and field tests are performed on in collaboration with one of the Class I railroads in the U.S. The test results indicate that approximately 5 - 30 Watts of average power can be harvested for freight trains traveling at speeds ranging from 24 to 48 km/hr. Higher speeds are expected to result in larger harvested power.

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