Development of a vibration energy harvesting device using piezoelectric sensors

Abstract

Piezoelectric energy harvesting has become popular among researchers because of the ease of converting mechanical energy into electrical energy using piezoelectric materials. In this context, a vibration energy harvesting device was developed to harvest vibration energy from vehicles. Lead zirconate titanate (PZT) was selected as the piezoelectric material. First the vibration sources were analyzed to identify the resonant frequency. Piezoelectric energy harvester was developed using the cantilever type configuration. Euler–Bernoulli beam theory was used to analyze the cantilever beam under free vibration. Finite element analysis (FEA) was used to identify the design parameters of the prototype which includes the metal beam, tip mass and the PZT plate. The maximum theoretical voltage was obtained as 5.99V according to the FEA modeling. The prototype was developed and voltage was measured fixing the prototype to the motor bike. The average voltage output was 3.65V.