Abstract
The increasing prevalence of low power consuming electronics brings greater potential to mobile energy harvesting devices as a possible power source. A new piezoelectric energy harvesting device, called the piezoelectric flex transducer (PFT), is presented and developed. A Finite Element Model (FEM) was developed to design and analyse the PFT. The PFT consists of a piezoelectric element sandwiched between substrate layers and metal endcaps that are able to amplify the axial force on the piezoelectric element. Based on the concept of the Cymbal transducer, the PFT can withstand higher forces, was retrofitted into a shoe and used to power a wireless sensor module whilst the subject with a body weight of 760N was wearing the shoe and ran at 3.1mph (1.4HZ on shoe), the PFT produced an average maximum power of 2.5mW (over 2MΩ load).
Highlights
Based on the concept of the cymbal device [1], the piezoelectric flex transducer (PFT) is composed of top and bottom endcaps with a central piezoelectric element
This paper presents the design, analysis, fabrication and testing of the PFT
The energy generated by the PFT in gait when retrofitted into a shoe was demonstrated to power a custom developed wireless sensor module [2]
Summary
Based on the concept of the cymbal device [1], the piezoelectric flex transducer (PFT) is composed of top and bottom endcaps with a central piezoelectric element. In figure 3 (a) the power output increased with an increase in piezo-thickness for a PFT under a 1kN force load at 2Hz. When the thickness of the piezo-element was increased, the capacitance decreased and the internal resistance increased. Enhanced PFT power outputs were found with the following: reduced endcap thickness led to less energy waste through unneeded bulk, figure 4 (a), though not shown here this was similar with substrate thickness. Though not shown here the current and voltage showed a similar trend to power output when varying the endcap dimensions as in figure 4 (a) and (b) This was expected as the internal properties of the piezo-element remained constant, it was only the force applied to the piezo-element that changed. Piezoelectric material selection was based on guidelines set out in previous works [3] with the additional compromise of availability
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