Tunable sub-wavelength acoustic energy harvesting with a metamaterial plate

Abstract

We report theoretically on sub-wavelength acoustic energy harvesting (AEH) using a thin acoustic metamaterial (AM) made of spring-mass resonators attached to the surface of a homogeneous elastic thin plate. Considering an incident acoustic wave hitting the AM plate, tunable and highly efficient AEH is achieved by introducing a sub-wavelength defect inside the AM structure to confine the elastic energy into a spot which is then electromechanically converted into electrical power using a ceramic PZT patch. Several types of sub-wavelength cavities capable of confining acoustic energy at the sonic regime are extensively investigated for the optimization of AEH. Three analytical approaches—band structure, sound transmission loss and electrical-to-mechanical energy conversion—are proposed to fully describe the system interaction with the acoustic wave and quantify the AEH performance. The computed results show that an average power of 18 μW can be harvested using a specific cavity design of only size from an incident acoustic wave with a sound pressure level of 100 dB at 520 Hz. Such a system can open up a way through the design of effective tunable sub-wavelength acoustic energy harvesters based on AM applied to scavenge energy from sound.