Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting Technology Research Articles

Analysis of output characteristics of positive feedback piezoelectric energy harvester based on nonlinear magnetic coupling.

In light of the limitations of the current piezoelectric energy harvesters and the demand for self-power supply in wireless sensor nodes, a novel positive feedback piezoelectric energy harvester based on nonlinear magnetic coupling is proposed. The operational characteristics of this energy harvester are investigated from three perspectives: theory, simulation, and experiment. First, a nonlinear electromechanical coupling mathematical model that describes the dynamic response of the energy harvester system is established by combining the Hamilton variational principle with the piezoelectric theory. This provides a theoretical foundation for subsequent research. Second, finite element method simulations are employed to optimize the structural parameters of the energy harvester and study the impact of nonlinear magnetic force on its output performance. Finally, an experimental prototype is fabricated and an experimental test system is constructed to validate the designed positive feedback piezoelectric energy harvester. The results demonstrate that changes in the longitudinal beam angle have minimal effect on energy capture efficiency. By appropriately increasing the bending surface length, reducing initial magnetic moment, and augmenting mass block weight, wider working frequency bands and higher power generation capacity can be achieved when vibrating in low-energy orbits. The experimental findings align closely with theoretical design values and contribute to advancing broadband multi-directional piezoelectric energy harvesting technology in order to provide high-performance vibration-based power solutions for wireless applications.

Prototyping and Performance Analysis of a Step Driven Piezoelectric Energy Generation System

This paper presents a novel approach to harness energy from human footsteps using piezoelectric sensors. With a focus on addressing the energy needs of densely populated regions such as China and India, where foot traffic is abundant, this work endeavours to convert mechanical energy from footsteps into electrical energy. A prototype hardware model has been designed and presented to generate power through human foot movement, employing piezoelectric sensors arranged in series and connected via a rectifier diode to charge a battery. Additionally, a voltage booster is integrated to amplify voltage output, while an inverter facilitates the conversion of DC to AC power. Experimental investigations were conducted by varying the weights of individuals to establish a correlation between weight and resulting voltage outputs, culminating in a graphical representation of the data. The outcomes of our study showcase the feasibility of tapping into untapped energy reservoirs from foot traffic, thereby presenting promising applications for urban settings. This work contributes towards addressing energy challenges prevalent in densely populated areas and underscores the potential of piezoelectric energy harvesting technology as a sustainable energy solution.

Integration of Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting Systems into Building Envelopes for Structural Health Monitoring with Fiber Optic Sensing Technology

This paper presents a study about the integration of Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting Systems (PE-EHSs) into building envelopes for powering Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) sensors, enabling efficient and low-consumption monitoring with the objective of leveraging structural health monitoring (SHM). The research includes preliminary tests conducted in a real environment to validate the PE-EHS when fully integrated into a ventilated façade, capturing mechanical vibrations generated mainly by wind loads. Based on these activities, the final configuration of PE-EHSs is defined to provide a complete system for façade monitoring. This integrated system includes the piezoelectric generator (PEG), supercapacitor (SC), Power Conditioner Circuit (PCC), Fiber Optic Sensing (FOS) interrogator, and the IoT gateway transmitting measurement data within an Internet of Things (IoT) monitoring platform. This configuration is tailored to address the challenges related to the structural integrity of building envelopes. Results demonstrate a potential for a stand-alone solution in the façade sector but raise issues for certain limitations, requiring further investigation. In particular, the study emphasizes constraints related to the energy production of PE-EHSs for façade integration. It highlights the necessity to carefully consider these limitations within the broader context of their applicability, providing insights for the informed deployment of piezoelectric energy harvesting technology in building envelope monitoring.

A conical spiral piezoelectric energy harvester with parallel beams for all-directional flow energy harvesting

Piezoelectric energy harvesting technology using flow-induced vibration is a type of interference-resistant and miniaturizable power generation technology, which is promising on powering the wireless micro electromechanical system in flow filed. However, the flow direction of the natural flow field is changeable while most existing flow-induced piezoelectric energy harvesters (PEHs) are limited by their working direction. In this paper, we propose a conical spiral piezoelectric energy harvester with parallel beams (CSPEH-PB) that can collect energy under flow excitation in all directions. Based on the multi-dimensional vibration analysis of conical spiral structure, we investigate the resonance mode and effective flow velocity range of the CSPEH-PB through numerical analysis. In comparative experiments with a bimorph flat PEH, we verify the effective flow velocity range and voltage of the CSPEH-PB and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) films attached. The results demonstrate that the CSPEH-PB generates an effective voltage greater than 0.53 V through the PVDF films under any direction of the water flow, and has a wider resonance bandwidth than PEH with straight beam. This study provides a practical solution for adapting PEHs to changeable flow direction.

Accurate finite element modeling of multilayered flexible piezoelectric energy harvesting devices with strong coupling of structure, piezoelectricity, and circuit

Multilayered flexible piezoelectric energy harvesting devices (FPEDs) are a new future harvesting technology which are highly flexible and lightweight than familiar cantilever piezoelectric energy harvesters. This mechanical vibration driven FPED is a strongly coupled multiphysics phenomena that involve complex natural three-way interaction among the composite piezoelectric structure, the electric charge accumulated in the piezoelectric material, and a controlling electrical circuit attached to it. Efficient and accurate computational solution approaches are essential for analyzing these mechanical vibration-driven FPEDs to capture the main physical aspect of the coupled phenomena and to accurately predict the output voltage. While there are some numerical models for simple familiar cantilever type piezoelectric energy harvester reported in the literature, a fully three-dimensional strongly coupled model for complex material distributed, complex geometry, and multilayered FPED involving strong coupling of structure, piezoelectricity, and circuit phenomena has not yet been developed. A partitioned iterative algorithm is developed using a hierarchical decomposition approach wherein the coupled three fields are solved separately and coupled through loop union integration techniques that provide an efficient and accurate simulation of FPEDs. The simulation results matched the experiment results very well. This study provides a basis for the natural extension of partitioned iterative finite element coupled algorithm to simulate the future piezoelectric energy harvesting technologies involving a strong coupling of structure, piezoelectricity, and circuit phenomenon.

Prospects of self-powering leadless pacemakers using piezoelectric energy harvesting technology by heart kinetic motion.

This paper studies the possibility of heart kinetic motion for designing a self-powered intracardiac leadless pacemaker by piezoelectric energy harvesting. A Doppler laser displacement sensor measures in vivo heart kinetic motion. Cantilevered and four-point bending piezoelectric harvesters are studied under the measured in vivo heart kinetic motion. The heart movement is above 15 mm. The cantilevered and four-point bending harvesters generate a maximum voltage of ~ 0.28 V and 0.8 V, respectively with the measured heart motion with a heart rate of 168 beats per minute. Two DC/DC converters, LTC3588 and MAX17220, combined with full-bridge rectifiers and their start-up performance are tested.Clinical Relevance-This paper analyzed the heart kinetic motion and establishes the piezoelectric energy harvesting for a new era of self-powered leadless pacemakers.

Perovskite Piezoelectric-Based Flexible Energy Harvesters for Self-Powered Implantable and Wearable IoT Devices

In the ongoing fourth industrial revolution, the internet of things (IoT) will play a crucial role in collecting and analyzing information related to human healthcare, public safety, environmental monitoring and home/industrial automation. Even though conventional batteries are widely used to operate IoT devices as a power source, these batteries have a drawback of limited capacity, which impedes broad commercialization of the IoT. In this regard, piezoelectric energy harvesting technology has attracted a great deal of attention because piezoelectric materials can convert electricity from mechanical and vibrational movements in the ambient environment. In particular, piezoelectric-based flexible energy harvesters can precisely harvest tiny mechanical movements of muscles and internal organs from the human body to produce electricity. These inherent properties of flexible piezoelectric harvesters make it possible to eliminate conventional batteries for lifetime extension of implantable and wearable IoTs. This paper describes the progress of piezoelectric perovskite material-based flexible energy harvesters for self-powered IoT devices for biomedical/wearable electronics over the last decade.

Piezoelectric vibration energy harvester: Operating mode, excitation type and dynamics

Nowadays, with the rapid development of the intelligent era and the concept of Internet of Things being proposed, more and more sensors will play a more important role. Providing a sustainable power source for sensors has become the focus of current research in microsystem power generation. The harvesting of widely available vibrational energy from the environment for use as an alternative power source for sensors is of great significance in efficient energy utilization. Researchers have been working on developing efficient energy harvesters for broadband and efficient energy harvesting. Nonlinear energy harvesting holds more significant promise. In this paper, we summarized and reviewed the research progress of three different harvesting methods from the perspective of varying energy harvesting methods. We also listed the operation of various harvesters under different excitation types. At the same time, nonlinear energy harvesters with different structural characteristics are reviewed, the benefits of nonlinearity on energy harvesting are effectively collected, and the practical applications are summarized. Finally, current methods and mechanisms to improve the collection efficiency of energy harvesters are described and summarized. Briefly, this review introduces the research development of existing energy harvesting technologies, summarizes the technically difficult problems faced by piezoelectric energy harvesting technologies, and provides an outlook for future research and development trends of piezoelectric vibration energy harvesting technologies.

Metamaterial based piezoelectric acoustic energy harvesting: Electromechanical coupled modeling and experimental validation

Piezoelectric energy harvesting technology utilizing acoustic metamaterials investigated by experiment and simulation improves the sound energy density and conversion efficiency. A fully coupled electromechanical model in both the mechanical and electric domains is crucial for accurate prediction and optimization of acoustic metamaterial based on sound energy harvesting. Based on the Kirchhoff thin plate theory, constitutive laws of isotropic aluminum substrate and transversely isotropic piezoelectric bimorph, the electromechanical coupled governing equation in the mechanical domain is deduced for a two-dimensional acoustic metamaterial based piezoelectric energy harvester. Each piezoelectric layer is represented as a current source in series with its internal capacitance for derivation of the electromechanical coupled governing equation in the electrical domain via Gauss’s law and Kirchhoff’s laws. With generalized boundary conditions, modal analysis is performed using the Galerkin method and Kelvin-Kirchhoff condition. The general transient response and frequency response functions are obtained under the excitation of sound waves and the reaction forces of the silicone rubbers. The time-history, power spectrum and phase portrait of the measured harvested voltage at 90 fixed frequencies agree well with the model predictions. The theoretical maximal harvested power is 3.09 mW, with the optimal resistance of 28180 Ω and inductance of 0.28H connected in parallel. Near the resonant frequency, the utilization rate of converting sound energy into electrical power is maximized. The proposed electromechanical coupled model can be used as a basis for further topology design and optimization and underlying physics for experimental study.

High-efficiency piezoelectric energy harvester for vehicle-induced bridge vibrations: Theory and experiment

Massive dissipated vibration energy of railway bridges is a sustainable energy source that can be harvested by piezoelectric energy harvesting technology. It provides a promising solution for powering bridge health monitoring systems. However, it remains challenging to achieve high energy output for the harvested energy to be of utility value. An efficient dynamic-magnified piezoelectric energy harvester (D-M PEH) is proposed, which reaches an energy output as high as 0.55 W under a harmonic acceleration excitation of unit amplitude and low frequency. The high energy output is achieved by incorporating a dynamic amplifier as well as several composite piezoelectric transducer cells (PT-cells) with d33-mode. The lumped parameters of the PT-cell are theoretically derived by considering the stacking deformation caused by the inverse piezoelectric effect. The energy harvesting performances of the D-M PEH are then investigated both theoretically and experimentally. When a train passes through the bridge, the maximum output voltage and power of the proposed D-M PEH can reach 603 V and 0.728 W, respectively. The output power is much higher than that of reported piezoelectric energy harvesters installed on railway bridges. The prototype system holds great potential to be part of the smart railway.

Overview of Human Kinetic Energy Harvesting and Application

In the Internet of Things era, wearable electronics and sensors have become essential for health monitoring and human computer interaction. However, a continuous power supply is an urgent demand in the field of distributed sensing. Energy harvesting from daily human activities and its conversion into electricity are expected to replace traditional batteries and wearable power supplying electronic devices. This article reviews the electromagnetic, piezoelectric, and triboelectric energy harvesting technologies from human motions, including joint rotation, limb swing, force application, fold stretching, and organ motion. It also discusses and analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of various recently proposed human energy harvesters. In addition, possible applications of active sensing and wearable powered electronic devices driven by human body kinetic energy harvesting are provided. Finally, the concept of a human energy and information exchange center based on energy harvesting is proposed as a future prospect.

Recent Research Progress in Piezoelectric Vibration Energy Harvesting Technology

With the development of remote monitoring technology and highly integrated circuit technology, the achievement and usage of self-powered wireless low-power electronic components has become a hot research topic nowadays. Harvesting vibration energy from the environment can meet the power consumption requirements of these devices, while it is also of great significance to fully utilize the hidden energy in the environment. The mechanism and three typical working modes of piezoelectric vibration energy harvesting technology are introduced, along with the classification of different excitation types of collectors. The progress of research related to piezoelectric vibration energy harvesting technology is reviewed. Finally, challenging problems in the study of piezoelectric energy harvesting technology are summarized, and the future research and development trend of piezoelectric vibration energy harvesting technology is discussed in the light of the current research status of piezoelectric vibration energy harvesting technology.

Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting Technology: From Materials, Structures, to Applications

The piezoelectric energy harvesting is a promising, interesting and complex technology. Herein, the aim is to review the key groups of parameters that contribute to the performance of energy harvesting and to offer a guideline for the future development. For this purpose, a universal theoretical model is developed. According to the model, the parameters are divided into six groups. Each group is then discussed. First, a discussion on the piezoelectric materials status, advantages and disadvantages of ceramics, polymers, single crystals, composites, nanomaterials, and lead‐free materials are summarized. The orientation of materials is also discussed. Second, the structure designs, including off‐resonance, on‐resonance, and impact design were introduced. Third, typical sources of excitations and vibrations are given, including direct contact force, low vibration force, hydraulic, pneumatic power, and acoustic power. The fourth consideration is on the effect of frequency and speed is discussed, focusing on the high‐frequency and high‐speed conditions. This is followed by the effect of electrical load on the output power of an energy harvester was discussed. Last, the parameters of energy accumulation effect and methods are also introduced. Following the above discussion, some examples are provided to show the potential applications, including the areas of structural health monitoring, vibration engines, pavement road energy harvesting, wireless sensor nodes, and human gait power. Finally, at the end of the review, the future challenges are addressed.

Overview of piezoelectric energy harvesting technology in the tire condition monitoring systems

Over the past decade, energy harvesting from the surrounding resources has been a hot topic for numerous researches. The automotive industry is one field that pays attention to this clean energy which plays a primary role in the vehicle’s safety. Moreover, a cost-efficient monitoring structure to better track tires conditions is required to fill the tires safety requirements. The main objective of this paper is to present a state of the art about the techniques of vibrational energy harvesting from car’s tires for the embedded self-power sensors and tires condition monitoring systems (TCMS).

Design and testing of road piezoelectric power generation device based on traffic environment applicability

This paper presents a design scheme for the applicability of piezoelectric power generation device in road traffic environment, which overcomes the problem of limited application due to the existing technology inapplicability to the complicated and changeable road traffic environment. Then, the traffic environment applicability of the device is evaluated with respect to the traffic load, temperature and water. And the electrical output effects are tested under different loads. The results indicate that under the load of 2.86 times the standard traffic load, the overall deformation of the device is only 0.941 mm, and the device exhibits good compression stability. The maximum internal temperature change rate of the device under different ambient temperatures is 2.4 °C/h, which is far lower than the pavement. Furthermore, the weight of the device increases by only 2.1 g after 24 h of immersion in water, with no moisture inside the device. Therefore, the device has excellent applicability in the traffic environment. Finally, the voltage and power of the device under the 0.9 MPa – 5 Hz can reach 96 V and 43.264 mW, and the power density reaches 0.064 mW/cm3, which is much higher than existing devices. This work will promote the application of piezoelectric energy harvesting technology in road engineering.

A high density piezoelectric energy harvesting device from highway traffic — System design and road test

Massive dissipated kinetic energy of roadway traffic is a sustainable energy source that can be harvested via piezoelectric effect. The piezoelectric energy harvesting technology provides a robust and reliable solution of roadway power generation. However, it remains challenging to achieve high energy density in order for the harvested energy to be of utility value. Here, we demonstrate an innovative roadway piezoelectric energy harvesting system, which reaches an energy density as high as 15.37 J/(m.pass.lane) based on the open-circuit voltage measurements in road tests. The high energy density is achieved by incorporating a compression-to-compression force amplification mechanism as well as an optimized system configuration to take full advantage of dynamic load from vehicles. To the best of our knowledge, the prototype system has achieved the highest energy density reported in the literature, and holds the great potential to be part of the smart highway.

A Review of Piezoelectric Vibration Energy Harvesting with Magnetic Coupling Based on Different Structural Characteristics.

Piezoelectric vibration energy harvesting technologies have attracted a lot of attention in recent decades, and the harvesters have been applied successfully in various fields, such as buildings, biomechanical and human motions. One important challenge is that the narrow frequency bandwidth of linear energy harvesting is inadequate to adapt the ambient vibrations, which are often random and broadband. Therefore, researchers have concentrated on developing efficient energy harvesters to realize broadband energy harvesting and improve energy-harvesting efficiency. Particularly, among these approaches, different types of energy harvesters adopting magnetic force have been designed with nonlinear characteristics for effective energy harvesting. This paper aims to review the main piezoelectric vibration energy harvesting technologies with magnetic coupling, and determine the potential benefits of magnetic force on energy-harvesting techniques. They are classified into five categories according to their different structural characteristics: monostable, bistable, multistable, magnetic plucking, and hybrid piezoelectric–electromagnetic energy harvesters. The operating principles and representative designs of each type are provided. Finally, a summary of practical applications is also shown. This review contributes to the widespread understanding of the role of magnetic force on piezoelectric vibration energy harvesting. It also provides a meaningful perspective on designing piezoelectric harvesters for improving energy-harvesting efficiency.

A Study on Piezoelectric elements and Energy Harvesting Technologies Utilizing Magnetic Compound Fluid Rubber and its Application

A Study on Piezoelectric elements and Energy Harvesting Technologies Utilizing Magnetic Compound Fluid Rubber and its Application

A comprehensive review on the state-of-the-art of piezoelectric energy harvesting

The global energy crisis and environmental pollutions caused mainly by the increased consumption of nonrenewable energy sources prompted researchers to explore alternative energy technologies that can harvest energies available in the ambient environment. Mechanical energy is the most ubiquitous ambient energy that can be captured and converted into useful electric power. Piezoelectric transduction is the prominent mechanical energy harvesting mechanism owing to its high electromechanical coupling factor and piezoelectric coefficient compared to electrostatic, electromagnetic, and triboelectric transductions. Thus, piezoelectric energy harvesting has received the utmost interest by the scientific community. Advancements of micro and nanoscale materials and manufacturing processes have enabled the fabrication of piezoelectric generators with favorable features such as enhanced electromechanical coupling factor, piezoelectric coefficient, flexibility, stretch-ability, and integrate-ability for diverse applications. Besides that, miniature devices with lesser power demand are realized in the market with technological developments in the electronics industry. Thus, it is anticipated that in near future, many electronics will be powered by piezoelectric generators. This paper presents a comprehensive review on the state-of-the-art of piezoelectric energy harvesting. The piezoelectric energy conversion principles are delineated, and the working mechanisms and operational modes of piezoelectric generators are elucidated. Recent researches on the developments of inorganic, organic, composite, and bio-inspired natural piezoelectric materials are reviewed. The applications of piezoelectric energy harvesting at nano, micro, and mesoscale in diverse fields including transportation, structures, aerial applications, in water applications, smart systems, microfluidics, biomedicals, wearable and implantable electronics, and tissue regeneration are reviewed. The advancements, limitations, and potential improvements of the materials and applications of the piezoelectric energy harvesting technology are discussed. Briefly, this review presents the broad spectrum of piezoelectric materials for clean power supply to wireless electronics in diverse fields. This paper presents the state-of-the-art review of piezoelectric energy harvesting with a special focus on materials and applications. Piezoelectric energy conversion principles are delineated, and the working mechanisms and operational modes of piezoelectric generators are elucidated. Recent researches on the developments of inorganic, organic, composite, and bio-inspired natural piezoelectric materials are reviewed. The applications of piezoelectric energy harvesting at nano, micro and meso-scale in diverse fields are presented. The advancements, limitations, and improvements of the materials and applications of the piezoelectric energy harvesting technology are discussed. • Piezoelectric transduction is prominent energy harvesting mechanism. • Principles, structures, and operational modes are explained. • Inorganic, organic, ceramic, and bioinspired natural materials reviewed. • Broad range of applications are summarized.

Optimization of Non-Uniform Deformation on Piezoelectric Circular Diaphragm Energy Harvester with a Ring-Shaped Ceramic Disk.

Piezoelectric energy harvesting technology using the piezoelectric circular diaphragm (PCD) has drawn much attention because it has great application potential in replacing chemical batteries to power microelectronic devices. In this article, we have found a non-uniform strain distribution inside the PCD energy harvester. From the edge to the center of the ceramic disk, its output voltage first increases and then decreases. This uneven output voltage reduces the output power of the PCD energy harvester. Based on this phenomenon, we reduce the ceramic disk diameter and dig a hole in the center, analyzing the effect of removing the ceramic disk’s low output voltage part on the PCD energy harvester. The experimental results show that removing the ceramic disk’s low output voltage part can improve the output power, reduce the resonance frequency, and increase the optimal impedance of the PCD energy harvester. Under the conditions of 10 g proof mass, 9.8 m/s2 acceleration, the PCD energy harvester with a 19-mm diameter and a 6-mm hole can reach a maximum output power of 8.34 mW.