A high-efficiency curved panel energy harvester featured by reduced stress concentration. (1st November 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Cai, Yuan; Fu, Jiyang; Wu, Nan; Xiong, Chao; Liu, Airong; He, Yuncheng
• Is Part Of: Energy conversion and management. Volume 271(2022)
• Publication Date: 2022-11-01
• Subjects: Piezoelectric energy harvester -- Stress change -- Bistable -- Fatigue damage; Direct energy conversion -- Periodicals; Energy storage -- Periodicals; Energy transfer -- Periodicals; Énergie -- Conversion directe -- Périodiques; Direct energy conversion; Periodicals; 621.3105
• DOI: 10.1016/j.enconman.2022.116334
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0196-8904

Abstract

Highlights: A novel piezoelectric energy harvester is proposed by using curved panels. The panel's stress concentration area varies periodically during vibration, which enlarges the effective working portion and retards fatigue damage of the device. The harvester involves a bistable structure which aims to strengthen the vibration amplitude. Working performance of the harvester is examined and evaluated through both numerical simulation and experimental test. Effects of panel thickness, block weight, excitation frequency, load resistance and location of PVDF are clarified. Abstract: Currently, most energy harvester designs focus on improving the efficiency of harvesting, with less attention paid to fatigue damage. In this study, a novel piezoelectric energy harvester with a curved panel is proposed. The curved panel of the harvester exhibits a bistable behavior during the deformation process so that the vibration energy can be efficiently converted into electricity. Moreover, the fatigue damage caused by stress concentration can be significantly alleviated by the real-time stress change of each curved panel. To optimize the power generation efficiency of the harvester, the design considered the influence of a number of key parameters, including panel thicknesses, mass block, excitation frequency and load resistance. Experimental results show that the maximum peak-to-peak and root-mean-square voltages under open-circuit conditions can respectively reach upmost 24.8 V and 5.66 V for the harvester with a piezoelectric film in a dimension of 30 mm × 12.1 mm × 0.28 μm, and the maximum power reach 129.4 μW. The proposed harvester has great potential for power generation and application, which provides a reference for collecting vibration energy in environment.