Selective current collecting design for spring-type energy harvesters

In this study, optimization of the external load resistance of a piezoelectric bistable energy harvester was performed for primary harmonic (period-1T) and subharmonic (period-3T) interwell motions. The analytical expression of the optimal load resistance was derived, based on the spectral analyses of the interwell motions, and evaluated. The analytical results are in excellent agreement with the numerical ones. A parametric study shows that the optimal load resistance depended on the forcing frequency, but not the intensity of the ambient vibration. Additionally, it was found that the optimal resistance for the period-3T interwell motion tended to be approximately three times larger than that for the period-1T interwell motion, which means that the optimal resistance was directly affected by the oscillation frequency (or oscillation period) of the motion rather than the forcing frequency. For broadband energy harvesting applications, the subharmonic interwell motion is also useful, in addition to the primary harmonic interwell motion. In designing such piezoelectric bistable energy harvesters, the frequency dependency of the optimal load resistance should be considered properly depending on ambient vibrations.

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Power Density Improvement of Piezoelectric Energy Harvesters via a Novel Hybridization Scheme with Electromagnetic Transduction

Micromachines ◽

10.3390/mi12070803 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (7) ◽

pp. 803

Author(s):

Zhongjie Li ◽

Chuanfu Xin ◽

Yan Peng ◽

Min Wang ◽

Jun Luo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Power Density ◽

Output Power ◽

Energy Harvester ◽

Hybrid Energy ◽

Energy Harvesters ◽

Piezoelectric Patch ◽

Piezoelectric Energy ◽

Electromagnetic Transduction ◽

Self Powered ◽

Power Densities

A novel hybridization scheme is proposed with electromagnetic transduction to improve the power density of piezoelectric energy harvester (PEH) in this paper. Based on the basic cantilever piezoelectric energy harvester (BC-PEH) composed of a mass block, a piezoelectric patch, and a cantilever beam, we replaced the mass block by a magnet array and added a coil array to form the hybrid energy harvester. To enhance the output power of the electromagnetic energy harvester (EMEH), we utilized an alternating magnet array. Then, to compare the power density of the hybrid harvester and BC-PEH, the experiments of output power were conducted. According to the experimental results, the power densities of the hybrid harvester and BC-PEH are, respectively, 3.53 mW/cm3 and 5.14 μW/cm3 under the conditions of 18.6 Hz and 0.3 g. Therefore, the power density of the hybrid harvester is 686 times as high as that of the BC-PEH, which verified the power density improvement of PEH via a hybridization scheme with EMEH. Additionally, the hybrid harvester exhibits better performance for charging capacitors, such as charging a 2.2 mF capacitor to 8 V within 17 s. It is of great significance to further develop self-powered devices.

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Performance analysis of a lever piezoelectric energy harvester for roadway applications

Journal of Intelligent Material Systems and Structures ◽

10.1177/1045389x211001445 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1045389X2110014

Author(s):

Guangya Ding ◽

Hongjun Luo ◽

Jun Wang ◽

Guohui Yuan

Keyword(s):

Output Power ◽

Energy Harvester ◽

Open Circuit ◽

Traffic Load ◽

Energy Harvesters ◽

Speed Sensor ◽

Piezoelectric Energy ◽

Optimal Load ◽

Self Powered ◽

Output Characteristics

A novel lever piezoelectric energy harvester (LPEH) was designed for installation in an actual roadway for energy harvesting. The model incorporates a lever module that amplifies the applied traffic load and transmits it to the piezoelectric ceramic. To observe the piezoelectric growth benefits of the optimized LPEH structure, the output characteristics and durability of two energy harvesters, the LPEH and a piezoelectric energy harvester (PEH) without a lever, were measured and compared by carrying out piezoelectric performance tests and traffic model experiments. Under the same loading condition, the open circuit voltages of the LPEH and PEH were 20.6 and 11.7 V, respectively, which represents a 76% voltage increase for the LPEH compared to the PEH. The output power of the LPEH was 21.51 mW at the optimal load, which was three times higher than that of the PEH (7.45 mW). The output power was linearly dependent on frequency and load, implying the potential application of the module as a self-powered speed sensor. When tested during 300,000 loading cycles, the LPEH still exhibited stable structural performance and durability.

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On Mathematical Modeling of Piezoelectric Energy Harvesters

Advanced Materials Research ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.953-954.655 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 953-954 ◽

pp. 655-658 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Guang Qing Shang ◽

Hong Bing Wang ◽

Chun Hua Sun

Keyword(s):

Mathematical Modeling ◽

Energy Harvesting ◽

Energy Harvester ◽

Vibration Energy ◽

Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting ◽

Vibration Energy Harvester ◽

Energy Harvesters ◽

Piezoelectric Energy ◽

Energy Harvesting System ◽

Piezoelectric Vibration

Energy harvesting system has become one of important areas of research and develops rapidly. How to improve the performance of the piezoelectric vibration energy harvester is a key issue in engineering applications. There are many literature on piezoelectric energy harvesting. The paper places focus on summarizing these literature of mathematical modeling of piezoelectric energy harvesting, ranging from the linear to nonlinear, from early a single mechanical degree to piezoaeroelastic problems.

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A High Performance and Consolidated Piezoelectric Energy Harvester Based on 1D/2D Hybrid Zinc Oxide Nanostructures

Advanced Materials Interfaces ◽

10.1002/admi.201801167 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 5 (23) ◽

pp. 1801167 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Alam Mahmud ◽

Asif Abdullah Khan ◽

Peter Voss ◽

Taylan Das ◽

Eihab Abdel‐Rahman ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Zinc Oxide ◽

High Performance ◽

Energy Harvester ◽

Zinc Oxide Nanostructures ◽

Piezoelectric Energy ◽

Oxide Nanostructures

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Heartbeat Energy Harvesting Using the Fan-Folded Piezoelectric Beam Geometry

Volume 8: 27th Conference on Mechanical Vibration and Noise ◽

10.1115/detc2015-47698 ◽

2015 ◽

Author(s):

M. H. Ansari ◽

M. Amin Karami

Keyword(s):

Natural Frequency ◽

Energy Harvester ◽

Low Frequency ◽

Mode Shapes ◽

Vibration Energy ◽

Vibration Energy Harvester ◽

Mechanical Coupling ◽

Energy Harvesters ◽

Piezoelectric Energy ◽

Piezoelectric Beam

A three dimensional piezoelectric vibration energy harvester is designed to generate electricity from heartbeat vibrations. The device consists of several bimorph piezoelectric beams stacked on top of each other. These horizontal bimorph beams are connected to each other by rigid vertical beams making a fan-folded geometry. One end of the design is clamped and the other end is free. One major problem in micro-scale piezoelectric energy harvesters is their high natural frequency. The same challenge is faced in development of a compact vibration energy harvester for the low frequency heartbeat vibrations. One way to decrease the natural frequency is to increase the length of the bimorph beam. This approach is not usually practical due to size limitations. By utilizing the fan-folded geometry, the natural frequency is decreased while the size constraints are observed. The required size limit of the energy harvester is 1 cm by 1 cm by 1 cm. In this paper, the natural frequencies and mode shapes of fan-folded energy harvesters are analytically derived. The electro-mechanical coupling has been included in the model for the piezoelectric beam. The design criteria for the device are discussed.

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A Novel Multi-Directional Nonlinear Piezoelectric Energy Harvester Coupled With Nonlinear Conditioning Circuits

Volume 8: 27th Conference on Mechanical Vibration and Noise ◽

10.1115/detc2015-47334 ◽

2015 ◽

Author(s):

Zhengbao Yang ◽

Jean Zu

Keyword(s):

Energy Harvester ◽

Piezoelectric Materials ◽

Electrical Energy ◽

Elastic Rods ◽

Energy Harvesters ◽

Piezoelectric Energy ◽

High Power Output ◽

Transduction Mechanisms ◽

Self Powered ◽

Aluminum Plates

Energy harvesting from vibrations has become, in recent years, a recurring target of a quantity of research to achieve self-powered operation of low-power electronic devices. However, most of energy harvesters developed to date, regardless of different transduction mechanisms and various structures, are designed to capture vibration energy from single predetermined direction. To overcome the problem of the unidirectional sensitivity, we proposed a novel multi-directional nonlinear energy harvester using piezoelectric materials. The harvester consists of a flexural center (one PZT plate sandwiched by two bow-shaped aluminum plates) and a pair of elastic rods. Base vibration is amplified and transferred to the flexural center by the elastic rods and then converted to electrical energy via the piezoelectric effect. A prototype was fabricated and experimentally compared with traditional cantilevered piezoelectric energy harvester. Following that, a nonlinear conditioning circuit (self-powered SSHI) was analyzed and adopted to improve the performance. Experimental results shows that the proposed energy harvester has the capability of generating power constantly when the excitation direction is changed in 360. It also exhibits a wide frequency bandwidth and a high power output which is further improved by the nonlinear circuit.

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Crack Protective Layered Architecture of Lead-Free Piezoelectric Energy Harvester in Bistable Configuration

Sensors ◽

10.3390/s20205808 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 20 (20) ◽

pp. 5808

Author(s):

Ondrej Rubes ◽

Zdenek Machu ◽

Oldrich Sevecek ◽

Zdenek Hadas

Keyword(s):

Energy Harvester ◽

Lead Free ◽

Vibration Energy Harvester ◽

Ultra Low Power ◽

Energy Harvesters ◽

Layered Architecture ◽

Piezoelectric Energy ◽

Wide Range ◽

Ultra Low Power Devices ◽

Novel Design

Kinetic piezoelectric energy harvesters are used to power up ultra-low power devices without batteries as an alternative and eco-friendly source of energy. This paper deals with a novel design of a lead-free multilayer energy harvester based on BaTiO3 ceramics. This material is very brittle and might be cracked in small amplitudes of oscillations. However, the main aim of our development is the design of a crack protective layered architecture that protects an energy harvesting device in very high amplitudes of oscillations. This architecture is described and optimized for chosen geometry and the resulted one degree of freedom coupled electromechanical model is derived. This model could be used in bistable configuration and the model is extended about the nonlinear stiffness produced by auxiliary magnets. The complex bistable vibration energy harvester is simulated to predict operation in a wide range of frequency excitation. It should demonstrate typical operation of designed beam and a stress intensity factor was calculated for layers. The whole system, without presence of cracks, was simulated with an excitation acceleration of amplitude up to 1g. The maximal obtained power was around 2 mW at the frequency around 40 Hz with a maximal tip displacement 7.5 mm. The maximal operating amplitude of this novel design was calculated around 10 mm which is 10-times higher than without protective layers.

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Self-powered fully-flexible light-emitting system enabled by flexible energy harvester

Energy & Environmental Science ◽

10.1039/c4ee02435d ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 7 (12) ◽

pp. 4035-4043 ◽

Cited By ~ 118

Author(s):

Chang Kyu Jeong ◽

Kwi-Il Park ◽

Jung Hwan Son ◽

Geon-Tae Hwang ◽

Seung Hyun Lee ◽

...

Keyword(s):

High Performance ◽

Energy Harvester ◽

Optoelectronic Device ◽

Light Emitting ◽

Piezoelectric Energy ◽

Led Array ◽

Self Powered

We present a self-powered all-flexible light-emitting optoelectronic device using a flexible and high-performance piezoelectric energy harvester with a robustly developed flexible and vertically structured inorganic LED array.

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