A Review of Two Patents Relating to Novel Energy Harvesting Techniques to Provide Electrical Power On-Board Gun-Fired Projectiles

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jahangir Rastegar ◽  
Richard Murray
Keyword(s):  
Power Generation ◽  
Energy Harvesting ◽  
Mechanical Energy ◽  
Electrical Power ◽  
Electrical Energy ◽  
Harsh Environment ◽  
Logical Framework ◽  
Power Sources ◽  
Piezoelectric Elements ◽  
Harvesting Techniques

This is a review of two patents relating to electrical power generation on-board gun-fired munitions. The devices harvest mechanical energy from the motion of the projectile (e.g. the axial firing acceleration), and then convert the energy from mechanical to electrical using novel mechanisms and materials such as piezoelectric elements. The devices are particularly important for several reasons. Firstly, the devices are inherently safe because the root source of the electrical energy is the motion of the projectile; therefore no electrical energy can be produced until after the projectile is fired. Second, the devices have a much longer shelf-life than competing electrical power sources such as batteries. Finally, the devices are simple, rugged, and reliable making them ideal for the harsh environment on-board gun-fired projectiles. In addition to presenting the general approach, the logical framework of the patented embodiments is presented, especially with respect to the types of motion used for harvesting and the challenges presented by the varied magnitudes of those motions in different weapon platforms.

scholarly journals Hollow Piezoelectric Ceramic Fibers for Energy Harvesting Fabrics

2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 155892501300800
Author(s):  
François M. Guillot ◽  
Haskell W. Beckham ◽  
Johannes Leisen
Keyword(s):  
Energy Harvesting ◽  
Lead Zirconate Titanate ◽  
Mechanical Energy ◽  
Electrical Power ◽  
Electrical Energy ◽  
Lead Zirconate ◽  
Ceramic Fibers ◽  
Power Sources ◽  
Electromechanical Performance ◽  
Alternative Power

In the past few years, the growing need for alternative power sources has generated considerable interest in the field of energy harvesting. A particularly exciting possibility within that field is the development of fabrics capable of harnessing mechanical energy and delivering electrical power to sensors and wearable devices. This study presents an evaluation of the electromechanical performance of hollow lead zirconate titanate (PZT) fibers as the basis for the construction of such fabrics. The fibers feature individual polymer claddings surrounding electrodes directly deposited onto both inside and outside ceramic surfaces. This configuration optimizes the amount of electrical energy available by placing the electrodes in direct contact with the surface of the material and by maximizing the active piezoelectric volume. Hollow fibers were electroded, encapsulated in a polymer cladding, poled and characterized in terms of their electromechanical properties. They were then glued to a vibrating cantilever beam equipped with a strain gauge, and their energy harvesting performance was measured. It was found that the fibers generated twice as much energy density as commercial state-of-the-art flexible composite sensors. Finally, the influence of the polymer cladding on the strain transmission to the fiber was evaluated. These fibers have the potential to be woven into fabrics that could harvest mechanical energy from the environment and could eventually be integrated into clothing.

Development of High-Efficiency Piezoelectric-Based Energy-Harvesting Power Sources Using Motion-Doubling Mechanisms

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jahangir Rastegar ◽  
Richard Murray
Keyword(s):  
Energy Harvesting ◽  
Mechanical Energy ◽  
Piezoelectric Element ◽  
Electrical Energy ◽  
Great Success ◽  
Force Transmission ◽  
Power Sources ◽  
Piezoelectric Elements ◽  
Number Of Cycles ◽  
Mass Spring

Piezoelectric-based energy harvesting power sources that employ spring-mass vibrating systems have been employed with great success to harvest energy from various shock loading and/or vibration and oscillatory motions in numerous systems. In these systems, the external stimuli is used to store mechanical energy in the spring of a mass-spring unit which is attached to a piezoelectric element or a magnet and coil generator, and generate electrical energy as the vibrating mass-spring unit undergoes vibration and applies a cyclic load to the piezoelectric element. In this paper, the implementation of such energy harvesting power sources with a novel motion-doubling mechanism is presented. This novel force transmission method has two key advantages. Firstly, it provides the means to amplify the force applied to the piezoelectric element. Secondly, it provides the means of doubling the number of cycles of compressive forces applied to the piezoelectric elements during each cycle of vibration as compared to the direct mass-spring-piezoelectric generators that have been developed to date. The motion doubling and the resulting halving of the required number of cycles of vibration of the mass-spring unit for generating a certain amount of electrical energy has the effect of significantly increasing the mechanical to electrical energy conversion efficiency of the power source by significantly reducing structural damping losses in the spring element and by the increase in the level of force that is applied to the energy harvesting piezoelectric elements. The design and prototype fabrication of such an energy harvesting power sources is discussed.

Energy harvesting from quasi-static deformations via bilaterally constrained strips

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (18) ◽  
pp. 3572-3581
Author(s):  
Suihan Liu ◽  
Ali Imani Azad ◽  
Rigoberto Burgueño
Keyword(s):  
Energy Harvesting ◽  
Low Power ◽  
Mechanical Energy ◽  
Electrical Power ◽  
Energy Resource ◽  
Electrical Energy ◽  
Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting ◽  
Power Budget ◽  
Piezoelectric Energy ◽  
Static Conditions

Piezoelectric energy harvesting from ambient vibrations is well studied, but harvesting from quasi-static responses is not yet fully explored. The lack of attention is because quasi-static actions are much slower than the resonance frequency of piezoelectric oscillators to achieve optimal outputs; however, they can be a common mechanical energy resource: from large civil structure deformations to biomechanical motions. The recent advances in bio-micro-electro-mechanical systems and wireless sensor technologies are motivating the study of piezoelectric energy harvesting from quasi-static conditions for low-power budget devices. This article presents a new approach of using quasi-static deformations to generate electrical power through an axially compressed bilaterally constrained strip with an attached piezoelectric layer. A theoretical model was developed to predict the strain distribution of the strip’s buckled configuration for calculating the electrical energy generation. Results from an experimental investigation and finite element simulations are in good agreement with the theoretical study. Test results from a prototyped device showed that a peak output power of 1.33 μW/cm2 was generated, which can adequately provide power supply for low-power budget devices. And a parametric study was also conducted to provide design guidance on selecting the dimensions of a device based on the external embedding structure.

scholarly journals ENERGY HARVESTING TECHNIQUES IN WIRELESS SENSOR NETWORKS

2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 117
Author(s):  
Tatjana Nikolić ◽  
Mile Stojčev ◽  
Goran Nikolić ◽  
Goran Jovanović
Keyword(s):  
Wireless Sensor Networks ◽  
Sensor Networks ◽  
Energy Harvesting ◽  
Electrical Power ◽  
Electrical Energy ◽  
Wireless Sensor ◽  
Design Solution ◽  
Basic Operation ◽  
Alternative Source ◽  
Power Sources

Batteries are the main source of energy for low-power electronics such as micro-electro mechanical systems (MEMS), wireless sensor networks, embedded devices for remote sensing and control, etc. With the limited capacity of finite power sources and the need for supplying energy for the lifetime of a system/device there is a requirement for self-powered devices. Using conventional batteries is not always good design solution because batteries require human intervention to replace them (very often in hard-accessible and harsh-environmental conditions). Therefore, acquiring the electrical power, by using an alternative source of energy that is needed to operate these devices is a major concern. The process of extracting energy from the surrounding environment and converting it into consumable electrical energy is known as energy harvesting or power scavenging. The energy harvesting sources can be used to increase the lifetime and capability of the devices by either replacing or augmenting the battery usage. There are various forms of energy that can be scavenged, like solar, mechanical, thermal, and electromagnetic. Nowadays, there is a big interest in the field of research related to energy harvesting. This paper represents a survey for identifying the sources of energy harvesting and describes the basic operation of principles of the most common energy harvester. As first, we present, in short, the conversion principles of single energy source harvesting systems and point to their benefits and limitations in their usage. After that, hybrid structures of energy harvesters which simultaneously combine scavenged power from different ambient sources (solar, thermoelectric, electromagnetic), with aim to support higher load at the output, are considered.

Recent advances in flexible PVDF based piezoelectric polymer devices for energy harvesting applications

2020 ◽  
pp. 1045389X2096605
Author(s):  
Sunija Sukumaran ◽  
Samir Chatbouri ◽  
Didier Rouxel ◽  
Etienne Tisserand ◽  
Frédéric Thiebaud ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Energy Harvesting ◽  
Recent Progress ◽  
Vinylidene Fluoride ◽  
Piezoelectric Materials ◽  
Mechanical Energy ◽  
Electronic Devices ◽  
Electrical Energy ◽  
Electronic Circuits ◽  
Power Sources ◽  
Research Activities

Energy harvesting is one of the most promising research areas to produce sustainable power sources from the ambient environment. Which found applications to attain the extensive lifetime self-powered operations of various devices such as MEMS wireless sensors, medical implants and wearable electronic devices. Piezoelectric nanogenerators can efficiently convert the vastly available mechanical energy into electrical energy to meet the requirements of low-powered electronic devices. Among the piezoelectric materials, poly (vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) and its copolymers are extensively studied for the development of energy harvesting devices. Due to the outstanding properties such as high flexibility, ease of processing, long-term stability, biocompatibility makes them a promising candidate for piezoelectric generators. Nevertheless, compared to piezoceramic materials, PVDF based generators produce lower piezoresponse. Over the last decades, tremendous research activities have been reported to endorse the performance of PVDF based energy harvesters. This review article mainly focused on the recent progress in the performance improvement with processing methods, piezoelectric materials, different filler loading. The new developments and design structures will lead to an increase in piezoelectricity, alignment of dipoles, dielectric properties and subsequently enhance the output performance of the device. Electronic circuits play a vital role in energy harvesting to efficiently collect the developed charge from the device. Here, we have proposed a detailed description of the electronic circuits. Also, in the application part deals with the recent progress in flexible, biomedical and hybrid generators based on PVDF polymers.

Waste Heat Recovery From Generators in the Deployed Army

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gunnar Tamm ◽  
J. Ledlie Klosky ◽  
Jacob Baxter ◽  
Luke Grant ◽  
Isaac Melnick ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Waste Heat ◽  
Mechanical Energy ◽  
Electrical Power ◽  
Electrical Energy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Hot Water ◽  
Efficient Production ◽  
Water Heater ◽  
Power Sources ◽  
Fuel Savings

Electrical power generation in austere settings, such as combat zones, places a heavy burden on the US Army; high costs in both dollars and lives lost require that every drop of fuel be used effectively and efficiently. In remote locations such as combat outposts (COPs) and small forward operating bases (FOBs) in Afghanistan, electrical power derived from the Army’s standard Advanced Medium Mobile Power Sources (AMMPS) generator is even used to heat water for showers and heat living spaces. This heating requires conversion of thermal energy to mechanical energy, which is then converted to electrical energy and back to heat. Thus, a significant fuel savings could be realized through the more efficient production of heat. A combined heat and power system is proposed; efficiency is increased by routing the generator exhaust through simple ducting to a standard gas hot water heater to produce hot water with waste heat. With funding from the U.S. Army Rapid Equipping Force, cadets and faculty at the United States Military Academy designed, built and tested a system for under $1,000 in parts which was readily coupled to a 5 kW AMMPS generator to produce hot shower water. Results indicate a possible fuel savings of 1500–2000 gallons per year, 20–35% increased fuel utility, and the ability to provide 10–20 five gallon showers during every 5 hours of operation of each 5 kW generator. At a fuel cost of $20–50 per gallon in the deployed environment, and considering the large inventory of deployed generators, the payback for the Army could be tremendous.

Circuit Development of Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting Device for Recharging Solid-State Batteries

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuejuan Li ◽  
Marvin H. Cheng ◽  
Ezzat G. Bakhoum
Keyword(s):  
Solid State ◽  
Energy Density ◽  
Energy Harvesting ◽  
Electrical Energy ◽  
Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting ◽  
Power Sources ◽  
Piezoelectric Energy ◽  
Piezoelectric Elements ◽  
Volume Energy ◽  
Solid State Batteries

Piezoelectric devices have been widely used as a means of transforming ambient vibrations into electrical energy that can be stored and used to power other devices. This type of power generation devices can provide a convenient alternative to traditional power sources used to operate certain types of sensors/actuators, MEMS devices, and microprocessor units. However, the amount of energy produced by these devices is in many cases far too small to directly power an electrical device. Therefore, much of the research into power harvesting has focused on methods of accumulating the energy until a sufficient amount is present, allowing the intended electronics to be powered. Due to the tiny amount of harvestable power from a single device, it is critical to collect vibration energy efficiently. Many research groups have developed various methods to operate the harvesting devices at their resonant frequencies for maximal amount of energy. Different techniques of conversion circuits are also investigated for efficient transformation from mechanical vibration to electrical energy. However, efforts have not been made to the analysis of array configuration of energy harvesting elements. Poor combination of piezoelectric elements, such as phase difference, cannot guarantee the increasing amount of harvested energy. To realize a piezoelectric energy-harvesting device with higher volume energy density, the energy conversion efficiencies of different array configurations were investigated. In the present study, various combinations of piezoelectric elements were analyzed to achieve higher volume energy density. A charging circuit for solid-state batteries with planned energy harvesting strategy was also proposed. With the planned harvesting strategy, the required charging time can be estimated. Thus, the applicable applications can be clearly identified. In this paper, optimal combination of piezoelectric cantilevers and different modes of charging methods were investigated. The results provide a means of choosing the piezoelectric device to be used and estimate the amount of time required to recharge a specific capacity solid-state battery.

scholarly journals Development of Piezoelectric Energy Harvester System through Optimizing Multiple Structural Parameters

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (8) ◽  
pp. 2876
Author(s):  
Hailu Yang ◽  
Ya Wei ◽  
Weidong Zhang ◽  
Yibo Ai ◽  
Zhoujing Ye ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Power Generation ◽  
Energy Harvesting ◽  
Energy Harvester ◽  
Structural Parameters ◽  
Mechanical Energy ◽  
Electrical Energy ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Accelerated Pavement Testing ◽  
Piezoelectric Energy ◽  
Pavement Testing

Road power generation technology is of significance for constructing smart roads. With a high electromechanical conversion rate and high bearing capacity, the stack piezoelectric transducer is one of the most used structures in road energy harvesting to convert mechanical energy into electrical energy. To further improve the energy generation efficiency of this type of piezoelectric energy harvester (PEH), this study theoretically and experimentally investigated the influences of connection mode, number of stack layers, ratio of height to cross-sectional area and number of units on the power generation performance. Two types of PEHs were designed and verified using a laboratory accelerated pavement testing system. The findings of this study can guide the structural optimization of PEHs to meet different purposes of sensing or energy harvesting.

scholarly journals The Effect of Piezoelectric Shape on Energy Harvesting Shoes

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
pp. 918-923
Keyword(s):  
Energy Harvesting ◽  
Output Voltage ◽  
Piezoelectric Effect ◽  
Mechanical Energy ◽  
Piezoelectric Element ◽  
Electrical Energy ◽  
Human Motion ◽  
Piezoelectric Energy ◽  
Piezoelectric Elements ◽  
Bridge Rectifier

Piezoelectric elements are commonly installed in shoe sole to make use of the piezoelectric effect due to the vibration generated by the human motion. Piezoelectric shoe is a great device that can be used to harvest energy and can be improved by adding more piezoelectric elements and providing storage to store the harvested energy. However, not many researchers focus on the analyzation of piezoelectric elements’ shape that may affect the efficiency of energy harvesting. In this paper, piezoelectric energy harvesting shoes are designed with piezoelectric elements installed inside the soles of the shoes, thereby gaining mechanical energy from user while walking and running. The mechanical energy was applied to the piezoelectric elements and converted into electrical energy. Bridge rectifier was used to convert the AC voltage output into DC voltage. The project focused on analyzation of the efficiency between round and square shaped piezoelectric elements. Different shape of the piezoelectric element produced different amount of output voltage. Square shaped piezoelectric tended to produce lesser output voltage than the round piezoelectric element. A round piezoelectric with diameter of 4.5cm produced mean output voltage up to 11.56V and square piezoelectric with size of 4.5cm x 4.5cm produced 6.12V. However, this all depended on how much pressure that was applied onto the piezoelectric elements.

scholarly journals Comparative Analysis of Modelling for Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting Solutions

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 138-153
Author(s):  
Jennifer S Raj ◽  
G Ranganathan
Keyword(s):  
Energy Harvesting ◽  
Alternative Energy ◽  
Piezoelectric Materials ◽  
Mechanical Energy ◽  
Renewable Energy Sources ◽  
Energy Systems ◽  
Piezoelectric Energy ◽  
Research Article ◽  
Piezoelectric Elements ◽  
Harvesting Techniques

Due to the global energy crisis and environmental degradation, largely as a result of the increased usage of non-renewable energy sources, researchers have become more interested in exploring alternative energy systems, which may harvest energy from natural sources. This research article provides a comparison between various modeling of piezoelectric elements in terms of power generation for energy harvesting solutions. The energy harvesting can be computed and calculated based on piezoelectric materials and modeling for the specific application. The most common type of environmental energy that may be collected and transformed into electricity for several purposes is Piezoelectric transduction, which is more effective, compared to other mechanical energy harvesting techniques, including electrostatic, electromagnetic, and triboelectric transduction, due to their high electromechanical connection factor and piezoelectric coefficients. As a result of this research, scientists are highly interested in piezoelectric energy collection.

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