How to Broaden “Articulated Mechanical Components” Without Overclaiming

Yes. If you relax the search scope, the evidence is strong enough to support a broader idea — rotational motion in mechanical systems — but not strong enough to support the very specific wording “reciprocating rotation of articulated mechanical components.” A safer replacement is “rotational motions in mechanical systems” or, slightly narrower, “rotational motions of machinery components.”

Recommended wording

For an Introduction sentence, the most defensible version is:

rotational motions in mechanical systems

Other acceptable options are:

1. rotational motions of machinery components
2. rotation-related motions in mechanical systems
3. reciprocating or rotational motions in mechanical systems

The first option is the safest because it matches the available evidence without implying a specific class of articulated parts that the current sources do not directly establish.

What the broader search supports

• One study on a noncontact magnetically coupled piezo-electromagnetic rotary energy harvester uses a rotating test platform and describes a magnet reciprocating in an electromagnetic coil, which supports a broader statement about rotary or reciprocating motion being used in energy harvesting systems.
• Another study explicitly uses vibration-to-rotation conversion, with a rotational electromagnetic generator, a motion transmission mechanism, and reciprocating vibration input; this supports phrasing the application as mechanical-system motion rather than limiting it to articulated components.
• A review of rotational energy harvesting systems using piezoelectric materials discusses rotational energy harvesting and rotating machinery systems, making it suitable background support for a general Introduction claim about rotational motions in mechanical systems.

What remains unsupported

I would not keep this wording:

reciprocating rotation of articulated mechanical components

The problem is not the ideas of rotation, reciprocation, or machinery. Those are supported in a broader sense. The weak point is the very specific object phrase “articulated mechanical components.” The current evidence points more clearly to rotational machinery, mechanical systems, and vibration-to-rotation mechanisms, not specifically to articulated components such as robotic joints, linkage mechanisms, articulated arms, or hinged machinery.

Practical guidance

If this sentence is only a broad background statement in the Introduction — and you are no longer strictly limiting the search by journal-zone or ranking filters — write it broadly:

Energy harvesting from rotational motions in mechanical systems has attracted increasing research interest.

If you need to preserve the “reciprocating” meaning, use:

Energy harvesting from reciprocating or rotational motions in mechanical systems has attracted increasing research interest.

If the later manuscript specifically discusses robotic joints, articulated arms, linkage mechanisms, or hinged machinery, then you should run a separate targeted search for those exact application objects. Based on the current source set, the broader wording is more defensible.