TY - JOUR
T1 - Design and performance of variable-shaped piezoelectric energy harvesters
AU - Ben Ayed, Samah
AU - Abdelkefi, Abdessattar
AU - Najar, Fehmi
AU - Hajj, Muhammad R.
PY - 2014/1
Y1 - 2014/1
N2 - We investigate the effects of shape variations of a cantilever beam on its performance as an energy harvester. The beam is composed of piezoelectric and metallic layers (unimorph design) with a rigid mass attached to its free end. A reduced-order model based on a one-mode Galerkin approach is derived. Solutions for the tip displacement, generated voltage, and harvested power are then obtained. Linear and quadratic shape variations are considered in order to design piezoelectric energy harvesters that can generate energy at low frequencies and maximize the harvested energy. The results show that the fundamental natural frequency and mode shape are strongly affected when the shape of the beam is varied. The influence of the electrical load resistance and the shape parameters at resonance on the system's performance is discussed. It is determined that for specific resistance values, the quadratic shape can yield up to two times the energy harvested by a rectangular shape.
AB - We investigate the effects of shape variations of a cantilever beam on its performance as an energy harvester. The beam is composed of piezoelectric and metallic layers (unimorph design) with a rigid mass attached to its free end. A reduced-order model based on a one-mode Galerkin approach is derived. Solutions for the tip displacement, generated voltage, and harvested power are then obtained. Linear and quadratic shape variations are considered in order to design piezoelectric energy harvesters that can generate energy at low frequencies and maximize the harvested energy. The results show that the fundamental natural frequency and mode shape are strongly affected when the shape of the beam is varied. The influence of the electrical load resistance and the shape parameters at resonance on the system's performance is discussed. It is determined that for specific resistance values, the quadratic shape can yield up to two times the energy harvested by a rectangular shape.
KW - Energy harvesting
KW - differential quadrature method
KW - distributed model
KW - piezoelectric material
KW - variable-shaped beams
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U2 - 10.1177/1045389X13489365
DO - 10.1177/1045389X13489365
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84891123022
SN - 1045-389X
VL - 25
SP - 174
EP - 186
JO - Journal of Intelligent Material Systems and Structures
JF - Journal of Intelligent Material Systems and Structures
IS - 2
ER -