Abstract
To advance the development of piezoelectric energy harvesters, this study designed and manufactured bridge-unit-based and pile-unit-based piezoelectric devices. An indoor material testing system and accelerated pavement test equipment were used to test the electrical performance, mechanical performance, and electromechanical coupling performance of the devices. The results showed that the elastic modulus of the pile structure device was relatively higher than that of the bridge structure device. However, the elastic modulus of the two devices should be improved to avoid attenuation in the service performance and fatigue life caused by the stiffness difference. Furthermore, the electromechanical conversion coefficients of the two devices were smaller than 10% and insensitive to the load magnitude and load frequency. Moreover, the two devices can harvest 3.4 mW and 2.6 mW under the wheel load simulated by the one-third scale model mobile load simulator, thus meeting the supply requirements of low-power sensors. The elastic modulus, electromechanical conversion coefficients, and electric performance of the pile structure device were more reliable than those of the bridge structure device, indicating a better application prospect in road engineering.
Highlights
With increasingly prominent environmental problems and energy shortages, the transportation system has become a critical area of energy saving and emission reduction.Renewable energy and energy harvesting technologies have received unprecedented attention [1]
Research indicates that piezoelectric energy harvesters (PEHs) technology has technical advantages, such as a low environmental impact, high energy density, and around-the-clock service, and could be the leading technology in green and intelligent roads [15]
This work assessed and compared the performance of a pile-unit-based and bridgeunit-based piezoelectric device using a multiscale test and evaluation method. Both the pile-structure device and the bridge-structure device could be used for pavement energy harvesting, but the two devices displayed significant differences in their electrical performance, mechanical performance, and electromechanical coupling performance
Summary
With increasingly prominent environmental problems and energy shortages, the transportation system has become a critical area of energy saving and emission reduction.Renewable energy and energy harvesting technologies have received unprecedented attention [1]. Researchers have given extensive attention to energy harvesting and utilization technologies, such as photovoltaic, wind energy, piezoelectric, thermoelectric, and triboelectric for roadway applications [2,3,4,5]. The developed PEHs can be utilized to power low-power sensors for traffic flow monitoring [11], structural health monitoring [8], and vehicle weight estimation [12], as well as to power electronics, such as signals, lights, and Internet of things systems [13,14]. Research indicates that PEH technology has technical advantages, such as a low environmental impact, high energy density, and around-the-clock service, and could be the leading technology in green and intelligent roads [15]
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