Novel energy harvesting: A macro fiber composite piezoelectric energy harvester in the water vortex

Piezoelectric energy harvesting has attracted extensive research in the advancement of new designs and techniques over the last decade. The cantilever shaped piezoelectric energy harvesting beam is one of the most employed designs, due to its simplicity and flexibility for further performance enhancement. The strain distribution along the cantilever piezoelectric energy harvesting beam is nonuniform, which would induce fatigue damage at the root of the cantilever on the long run. This particular issue has seldom been addressed in the literature. This article presents an experimental investigation on the fatigue behavior of a cantilever piezoelectric energy harvesting beam at different base excitation levels. The experimental study is augmented with analytical formulation to examine the strain levels and with finite element analysis formulation to model the piezoelectric energy harvesting beam with a macro fiber composite piezoelectric transducer. A two-dimensional model is developed based on the three-dimensional model to investigate crack propagation in the piezoelectric energy harvesting beam. Furthermore, the electromechanical impedance technique is employed to monitor the progression of damage in the experimental specimens. The root mean square deviation and relative root mean square deviation of the impedance values and voltage obtained from the macro fiber composite transducer provide a profound introspection into the damage propagation in the piezoelectric energy harvesting beam. This study provides an insight into the behavior of the piezoelectric energy harvesting beam undergoing fatigue loading due to a uniform sinusoidal base excitation by analyzing the output voltage, resonant frequency, tip displacement, tip velocity, and impedance variations. It will pave the way for future studies on the fatigue-based design guides for piezoelectric energy harvesting beams.

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Piezoelectric energy harvesting using macro fiber composite patches

Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers Part C Journal of Mechanical Engineering Science ◽

10.1177/0954406220920321 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 234 (21) ◽

pp. 4331-4349

Author(s):

Marwa Mallouli ◽

Mnaouar Chouchane

Keyword(s):

Energy Harvesting ◽

Epoxy Matrix ◽

Composite Structures ◽

Fiber Composite ◽

Matrix Material ◽

Interdigitated Electrodes ◽

Piezoelectric Energy ◽

Resonance Frequencies ◽

Macro Fiber Composite ◽

Tip Mass

Over the last decade, vibration energy harvesting has received substantial attention of many researchers. Piezoelectric materials are able to capture energy from ambient vibration and convert it into electricity which can be stored in batteries or utilized to power small electronic devices. In order to benefit from the 33-mode of the piezoelectric effect, interdigitated electrodes have been utilized in the design of macro fiber composites which are made of piezoelectric fibers of square cross sections embedded into an epoxy matrix material. This paper presents an analytical model of a macro fiber composite bimorph energy harvester using the 33-mode. The mixing rule is applied to determine the equivalent and homogenized properties of the macro fiber composite structures. The electromechanical properties of a representative volume element composed of piezoelectric fibers and an epoxy matrix between two successive interdigitated electrodes are coupled with the overall electro-elastodynamics of the harvester utilizing the Euler–Bernoulli theory. Macro fiber composite bimorph cantilevers with diverse widths are simulated for power generation when a resistive shunt loading is applied. Stress components in the Kapton layers, which are typically a part of any macro fiber composite patch, and in the bonding layers have been included in the model contrary to previously published studies. Variable tip mass, attached at the free end of the beam, is utilized in this paper to tune the resonance frequency of the harvester. The generated power at the fundamental short circuit and open circuit resonance frequencies of harvesters having three different widths is analyzed. It has been observed that higher electrical outputs are produced by the wider macro fiber composite bimorph using (M8528-P1 patches).

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Piezoelectric energy harvesting based on macro fiber composite from a rotating shaft

Physica Scripta ◽

10.1088/1402-4896/ab0d49 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 94 (9) ◽

pp. 095802 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Dariusz Grzybek ◽

Piotr Micek

Keyword(s):

Energy Harvesting ◽

Fiber Composite ◽

Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting ◽

Rotating Shaft ◽

Piezoelectric Energy ◽

Macro Fiber Composite

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Characterization of a Multifunctional Bioinspired Piezoelectric Swimmer and Energy Harvester

ASME 2020 Conference on Smart Materials, Adaptive Structures and Intelligent Systems ◽

10.1115/smasis2020-2444 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Yu-Cheng Wang ◽

Eetu Kohtanen ◽

Alper Erturk

Keyword(s):

Energy Harvesting ◽

Large Scale ◽

Energy Harvester ◽

Fiber Composite ◽

Swimming Performance ◽

Water Channel ◽

Robotic Fish ◽

Water Tank ◽

Base Excitation ◽

Piezoelectric Energy

Abstract Fiber-based flexible piezoelectric composites with interdigitated electrodes, namely Macro-Fiber Composite (MFC) structures, strike a balance between the deformation and actuation force capabilities for effective underwater bio-inspired locomotion. These materials are also suitable for vibration-based energy harvesting toward enabling self-powered electronic components. In this work, we design, fabricate, and experimentally characterize an MFC-based bio-inspired swimmer-energy harvester platform. Following in vacuo and in air frequency response experiments, the proposed piezoelectric robotic fish platform is tested and characterized under water for its swimming performance both in free locomotion (in a large water tank) and also in a closed-loop water channel under imposed flow. In addition to swimming speed characterization under resonant actuation, hydrodynamic thrust resultant in both quiescent water and under imposed flow are quantified experimentally. We show that the proposed design easily produces thrust levels on the order of biological fish with similar dimensions. Overall it produces thrust levels higher than other smart material-based designs (such as soft material-based concepts), while offering geometric scalability and silent operation unlike large scale robotic fish platforms that use conventional and bulky actuators. The performance of this untethered swimmer platform in piezoelectric energy harvesting is also quantified by underwater base excitation experiments in a quiescent water and via vortex induced-vibration (VIV) experiments under imposed flow in a water channel. Following basic resistor sweep experiments in underwater base excitation experiments, VIV tests are conducted for cylindrical bluff body configurations of different diameters and distances from the leading edge of the energy harvesting tail portion. The resulting concept and design can find use for underwater swimmer and sensor applications such as ecological monitoring, among others.

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Piezoelectric Impact Energy Harvester Based on the Composite Spherical Particle Chain for Self-Powered Sensors

Sensors ◽

10.3390/s21093151 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (9) ◽

pp. 3151

Author(s):

Shuo Yang ◽

Bin Wu ◽

Xiucheng Liu ◽

Mingzhi Li ◽

Heying Wang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Energy Harvesting ◽

Spherical Particle ◽

Impact Energy ◽

Energy Harvester ◽

Composite Particle ◽

Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting ◽

Particle Chain ◽

Piezoelectric Energy ◽

Self Powered ◽

Particle Chains

In this study, a novel piezoelectric energy harvester (PEH) based on the array composite spherical particle chain was constructed and explored in detail through simulation and experimental verification. The power test of the PEH based on array composite particle chains in the self-powered system was realized. Firstly, the model of PEH based on the composite spherical particle chain was constructed to theoretically realize the collection, transformation, and storage of impact energy, and the advantages of a composite particle chain in the field of piezoelectric energy harvesting were verified. Secondly, an experimental system was established to test the performance of the PEH, including the stability of the system under a continuous impact load, the power adjustment under different resistances, and the influence of the number of particle chains on the energy harvesting efficiency. Finally, a self-powered supply system was established with the PEH composed of three composite particle chains to realize the power supply of the microelectronic components. This paper presents a method of collecting impact energy based on particle chain structure, and lays an experimental foundation for the application of a composite particle chain in the field of piezoelectric energy harvesting.

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Optimization of energy harvesting based on the uniform deformation of piezoelectric ceramic

Functional Materials Letters ◽

10.1142/s1793604716500697 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 09 (05) ◽

pp. 1650069 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Yaoze Liu ◽

Tongqing Yang ◽

Fangming Shu

Keyword(s):

Energy Harvesting ◽

Power Output ◽

Piezoelectric Ceramic ◽

Energy Harvester ◽

Optimization Method ◽

Piezoelectric Energy ◽

Bonding Area ◽

Almost All ◽

Matching Load ◽

Tip Mass

Since the piezoelectric properties were used for energy harvesting, almost all forms of energy harvester needs to be bonded with a mass block to achieve pre-stress. In this article, disc type piezoelectric energy harvester is chosen as the research object and the relationship between mass bonding area and power output is studied. It is found that if the bonding area is changed as curved, which is usually complanate in previous studies, the deformation of the circular piezoelectric ceramic is more uniform and the power output is enhanced. In order to test the change of the deformation, we spray several homocentric annular electrodes on the surface of a piece of bare piezoelectric ceramic and the output of each electrode is tested. Through this optimization method, the power output is enhanced to more than 11[Formula: see text]mW for a matching load about 24[Formula: see text]k[Formula: see text] and a tip mass of 30[Formula: see text]g at its resonant frequency of 139[Formula: see text]Hz.

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