Vibration Analysis of Advanced Light-Weight Piezo-Beam Energy Harvesters Under Thermal Environments

Abstract

This paper reports on vibration-based piezoelectric energy harvesting (VBPEH) of lightweight metallic substrate sandwich structures. Lead zirconate titanium (PZT-5H) piezoceramic material was surface-mounted on three types of thin aluminum, magnesium, and titanium cantilever-beam substrates, and their generated voltage outputs under harmonic excitations were analyzed. The beams were subjected to random noise to enhance output power through stochastic resonance. Further, free and forced vibration analyses were conducted using finite element analysis (FEA), and the temperature effects on the voltage outputs were compared for each configuration. The results showed that the highest electrical power of 756.06 mu W was obtained when using a magnesium substrate, titanium substrate with 501.9 mu W, and aluminum substrate with a value of 489.92 mu W. The effect of temperature on the power output of all piezoelectric models showed that as the temperature decreased, electrical power output increased. Hence, at low temperatures, the highest substrate power was achieved by aluminum for as much as 427 mu W, next magnesium substrate with a value of 401 mu W, and titanium substrate with a value of 395 mu W.