Multiple Resonances Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting Generator

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shaofan Qi ◽  
Roger Shuttleworth ◽  
S. Olutunde Oyadiji
Keyword(s):  
Energy Harvesting ◽  
Energy Harvester ◽  
Mechanical Energy ◽  
Electrical Energy ◽  
Limited Bandwidth ◽  
Piezo Element ◽  
Piezoelectric Energy ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Environmental Vibration ◽  
Design And Testing

Energy harvesting is the process of converting low level ambient energy into usable electrical energy, so that remote electronic instruments can be powered without the need for batteries or other supplies. Piezoelectric material has the ability to convert mechanical energy into electrical energy, and cantilever type harvesters using this material are being intensely investigated. The typical single cantilever energy harvester design has a limited bandwidth, and is restricted in ability for converting environmental vibration occurring over a wide range of frequencies. A multiple cantilever piezoelectric generator that works over a range of frequencies, yet has only one Piezo element, is being investigated. The design and testing of this novel harvester is described.

Electrical Energy Harvesting Using a Mechanical Rectification Approach

Aerospace ◽  
2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. M. Tieck ◽  
G. P. Carman ◽  
D. G. Enoch Lee
Keyword(s):  
Energy Density ◽  
Energy Harvesting ◽  
Power Density ◽  
Energy Harvester ◽  
Mechanical Energy ◽  
Electrical Energy ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Piezoelectric Energy ◽  
Power Densities ◽  
Frequency Rectification

This paper presents a new approach using frequency rectification to harvest electrical energy from mechanical energy using piezoelectric devices. The rectification approach utilizes a linearly traveling Rectifier to impart vibrational motion to a cantilever piezoelectric bimorph. A conventional cantilever-type energy harvester is tested aside the rectified beam. The Standard beam generated 0.11 W of power, a power density of 15.63 kW/m3, and an energy density of 130.7 J/m3. The Rectified beam generated 580 mW of power, a power density of 871.92 kW/m3, and an energy density of 313.15 J/m3, a factor 2.4 greater than conventional energy harvesting methods. These results confirm the original thesis that a mechanically rectified piezoelectric Energy Harvester would generate larger Energy and Power Densities as well as Specific Powers, compared to conventional technologies.

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.

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.

A Complete System Modelling of Piezoelectric Energy Harvester (PEH) with Silicon Carbide (SiC) Used as Cantilever Base

2014 ◽  
Vol 69 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohd Nor Fakhzan Mohd Kazim ◽  
Selvanayakan Raman ◽  
Muhammad Hafiz Shafie ◽  
Nashrul Fazli Mohd Nasir ◽  
Asan Gani Abdul Muthalif
Keyword(s):  
Silicon Carbide ◽  
Output Power ◽  
Energy Harvester ◽  
Damping Ratio ◽  
Electrical Energy ◽  
System Modelling ◽  
Electronic Circuitry ◽  
Piezo Element ◽  
Piezoelectric Energy ◽  
Sic Wafer

Silicon carbide (SiC) is a material that possesses hardness and robustness to operate under high temperature condition. This work is a pilot in exploring the feasibility of cubic piezo element on the SiC wafer with integrated proof mass as horizontal cantilever with perpendicular displacement with respect to the normal plane. With the advance of electronic circuitry, the power consumption is reduced to nano-watts. Therefore, harvesting ambient energy and converting into electrical energy through piezoelectric material will be useful for powering low power devices. Resonance is a property which able to optimize the generated output power by tuning the proof masses. The damping ratio is a considerable parameter for optimization. From analytical study, small damping ratio will enhance the output power of the piezoelectric energy harvester (PEH). This paper will present mathematical modelling approach, simulation verification and the conditional circuit named versatile precision full wave rectifier.  

Dielectric Elastomer Energy Harvesting and its Application to Human Walking

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather Lai ◽  
Chin An Tan ◽  
Yong Xu
Keyword(s):  
Energy Harvesting ◽  
Knee Joint ◽  
Mechanical Energy ◽  
Electrical Energy ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Dielectric Elastomer ◽  
Metabolic Energy ◽  
High Energy Density ◽  
Human Walking ◽  
Wide Range

Human walking requires sophisticated coordination of muscles, tendons, and ligaments working together to provide a constantly changing combination of force, stiffness and damping. In particular, the human knee joint acts as a variable damper, dissipating greater amounts of energy when the knee undergoes large rotational displacements during walking, running or hopping. Typically, this damping results from the dissipation, or loss, of metabolic energy. It has been proven to be possible however; to collect this otherwise wasted energy through the use of electromechanical transducers of several different types which convert mechanical energy to electrical energy. When properly controlled, this type of device not only provides desirable structural damping effects, but the energy generated can be stored for use in a wide range of applications. A novel approach to an energy harvesting knee joint damper is presented using a dielectric elastomer (DE) smart material based electromechanical transducer. Dielectric elastomers are extremely elastic materials with high electrical permittivity which operate based on electrostatic effects. By placing compliant electrodes on either side of a dielectric elastomer film, a specialized capacitor is created, which couples mechanical and electrical energy using induced electrostatic stresses. Dielectric elastomer energy harvesting devices not only have a high energy density, but the material properties are similar to that of human tissue, making it highly suitable for wearable applications. A theoretical framework for dielectric elastomer energy harvesting is presented along with a mapping of the active phases of the energy harvesting to the appropriate phases of the walking stride. Experimental results demonstrating the energy harvesting capability of a DE generator undergoing strains similar to those experienced during walking are provided for the purpose of verifying the theoretical results. The work presented here can be applied to devices for use in rehabilitation of patients with muscular dysfunction and transfemoral prosthesis as well as energy generation for able-bodied wearers.

Modeling and optimization of a wide-band piezoelectric energy harvester for smart building structures

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (02) ◽  
pp. 2050009
Author(s):  
Prateek Asthana ◽  
Gargi Khanna
Keyword(s):  
Resonant Frequency ◽  
Energy Harvester ◽  
Proof Mass ◽  
Mechanical Energy ◽  
Wide Band ◽  
Electrical Energy ◽  
Sensor Nodes ◽  
Ambient Vibrations ◽  
Band Energy ◽  
Piezoelectric Energy

Piezoelectric energy harvesting refers to conversion of mechanical energy into usable electrical energy. In the modern connected world, wireless sensor nodes are scattered around the environment. These nodes are powered by batteries. Batteries require regular replacement, hence energy harvesters providing continuous autonomous power are used to power these sensor nodes. This work provides two different fixation modes for the resonant frequency for the two modes. Variation in geometric parameter and their effect on resonant frequency and output power have been analyzed. These harvesters capture a wide-band of ambient vibrations and convert them into usable electrical energy. To capture random ambient vibrations, the harvester used is a wide-band energy harvester based on conventional seesaw mechanism. The proposed structure operates on first two resonant frequencies in comparison to the conventional cantilever system working on first resonant frequency. Resonance frequency, as well as response to a varying input vibration frequency, is carried out, showing better performance of seesaw cantilever design. In this work, modeling of wide-band energy harvester with proof mass is being performed. Position of proof mass plays a key role in determining the resonant frequency of the harvester. Placing the proof mass near or away from fixed end results in increase and decrease in stress on the piezoelectric layer. Hence, to avoid the breaking of cantilever, the position of proof mass has been analyzed.

scholarly journals A Curve-Shaped Beam Bistable Piezoelectric Energy Harvester with Variable Potential Well: Modeling and Numerical Simulation

Micromachines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 995
Author(s):  
Xiaoyu Chen ◽  
Xuhui Zhang ◽  
Luyang Chen ◽  
Yan Guo ◽  
Fulin Zhu
Keyword(s):  
Energy Harvesting ◽  
Energy Harvester ◽  
Dynamic Responses ◽  
Force Model ◽  
Potential Well ◽  
Shaped Beam ◽  
Piezoelectric Energy ◽  
Straight Beam ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Variable Potential

To improve the energy harvesting performance of an energy harvester, a novel bistable piezoelectric energy harvester with variable potential well (BPEH-V) is proposed by introducing a spring to the external magnet from a curve-shaped beam bistable harvester (CBH-C). First, finite element simulation was performed in COMSOL software to validate that the curved beam configuration was superior to the straight beam in power generation performance, which benefits energy harvesting. Moreover, the nonlinear magnetic model was obtained by using the magnetic dipoles method, and the nonlinear restoring force model of the curve-shaped beam was acquired based on fitting the experimental data. The corresponding coupled governing equations were derived by using generalized Hamilton’s principle, the dynamic responses were obtained by solving the coupling equations with the ode45 method. Finally, the numerical simulations showed that the proposed harvester can make interwell oscillations easier due to the spring being efficiently introduced to pull down the potential barrier compared with the conventional bistable harvester. Spring stiffness has a great impact on characteristics of the system, and a suitable stiffness contributes to realize large-amplitude interwell oscillations over a wide range of excitation, especially in the low excitation condition.

Energy Harvesting Characteristics of Conical Shells

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Li ◽  
S. D. Hu ◽  
H. S. Tzou
Keyword(s):  
Energy Harvesting ◽  
Conical Shell ◽  
Energy Harvester ◽  
Electric Energy ◽  
Electrical Energy ◽  
Open Circuit ◽  
Ambient Vibration ◽  
Circular Membrane ◽  
Shell Surface ◽  
Piezoelectric Energy

Piezoelectric energy harvesting has experienced significant growth over the past few years. Various harvesting structures have been proposed to convert ambient vibration energies to electrical energy. However, these harvester’s base structures are mostly beams and some plates. Shells have great potential to harvest more energy. This study aims to evaluate a piezoelectric coupled conical shell based energy harvester system. Piezoelectric patches are laminated on the conical shell surface to convert vibration energy to electric energy. An open-circuit output voltage of the conical energy harvester is derived based on the thin-shell theory and the Donnel-Mushtari-Valsov theory. The open-circuit voltage and its derived energy consists of four components respectively resulting from the meridional and circular membrane strains, as well as the meridional and circular bending strains. Reducing the surface of the harvester to infinite small gives the spatial energy distribution on the shell surface. Then, the distributed modal energy harvesting characteristics of the proposed PVDF/conical shell harvester are evaluated in case studies. The results show that, for each mode with unit modal amplitude, the distribution depends on the mode shape, harvester location, and geometric parameters. The regions with high strain outputs yield higher modal energies. Accordingly, optimal locations for the PVDF harvester can be defined. Also, when modal amplitudes are specified, the overall energy of the conical shell harvester can be calculated.

Piezoelectric wind energy harvester for low-power sensors

2011 ◽  
Vol 22 (18) ◽  
pp. 2215-2228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jayant Sirohi ◽  
Rohan Mahadik
Keyword(s):  
Energy Harvesting ◽  
Wind Energy ◽  
Mechanical Energy ◽  
Electrical Energy ◽  
Load Resistance ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Sensor Nodes ◽  
Wireless Sensor ◽  
Wireless Sensor Nodes ◽  
Piezoelectric Energy

There has been increasing interest in wireless sensor networks for a variety of outdoor applications including structural health monitoring and environmental monitoring. Replacement of batteries that power the nodes in these networks is maintenance intensive. A wind energy–harvesting device is proposed as an alternate power source for these wireless sensor nodes. The device is based on the galloping of a bar with triangular cross section attached to a cantilever beam. Piezoelectric sheets bonded to the beam convert the mechanical energy into electrical energy. A prototype device of size approximately 160 × 250 mm was fabricated and tested over a range of operating conditions in a wind tunnel, and the power dissipated across a load resistance was measured. A maximum power output of 53 mW was measured at a wind velocity of 11.6 mph. An analytical model incorporating the coupled electromechanical behavior of the piezoelectric sheets and quasi-steady aerodynamics was developed. The model showed good correlation with measurements, and it was concluded that a refined aerodynamic model may need to include apparent mass effects for more accurate predictions. The galloping piezoelectric energy-harvesting device has been shown to be a viable option for powering wireless sensor nodes in outdoor applications.

scholarly journals Development and Validation of an Enhanced Coupled-Field Model for PZT Cantilever Bimorph Energy Harvester

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Long Zhang ◽  
Keith A. Williams ◽  
Zhengchao Xie
Keyword(s):  
Energy Harvester ◽  
Field Model ◽  
Mechanical Energy ◽  
Electrical Energy ◽  
Open Circuit ◽  
Conservation Of Energy ◽  
Energy Harvesters ◽  
Piezoelectric Energy ◽  
Comparison Results ◽  
Coupled Field

The power source with the limited life span has motivated the development of the energy harvesters that can scavenge the ambient environment energy and convert it into the electrical energy. With the coupled field characteristics of structure to electricity, piezoelectric energy harvesters are under consideration as a means of converting the mechanical energy to the electrical energy, with the goal of realizing completely self-powered sensor systems. In this paper, two previous models in the literatures for predicting the open-circuit and close-circuit voltages of a piezoelectric cantilever bimorph (PCB) energy harvester are first described, that is, the mechanical equivalent spring mass-damper model and the electrical equivalent circuit model. Then, the development of an enhanced coupled field model for the PCB energy harvester based on another previous model in the literature using a conservation of energy method is presented. Further, the laboratory experiments are carried out to evaluate the enhanced coupled field model and the other two previous models in the literatures. The comparison results show that the enhanced coupled field model can better predict the open-circuit and close-circuit voltages of the PCB energy harvester with a proof mass bonded at the free end of the structure in order to increase the energy-harvesting level of the system.

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