Several previous studies have been dedicated to incorporating double defect modes of a phononic crystal (PnC) into piezoelectric energy harvesting (PEH) systems to broaden the bandwidth. However, these prior studies are limited to examining an identical configuration of the double defects. Therefore, this paper aims to propose a new design concept for PnCs that examines differently configured double defects for broadband elastic wave energy localization and harvesting. For example, a square-pillar-type unit cell is considered and a defect is considered to be a structure where one piezoelectric patch is bonded to a host square lattice in the absence of a pillar. When the double defects introduced in a PnC are sufficiently distant from each other to implement decoupling behaviors, each defect oscillates like a single independent defect. Here, by differentiating the geometric dimensions of two piezoelectric patches, the defects’ dissimilar equivalent inertia and stiffness contribute to individually manipulating defect bands that correspond to each defect. Hence, with adequately designed piezoelectric patches that consider both the piezoelectric effects on shift patterns of defect bands and the characteristics for the output electric power obtained from a single-defect case, we can successfully localize and harvest the elastic wave energy transferred in broadband frequencies.
A Phononic Crystal with Differently Configured Double Defects for Broadband Elastic Wave Energy Localization and Harvesting