Design of piezoelectric energy harvesting system using cantilever beam

Abstract

In this paper, a design for an energy harvesting device using cantilever beam will be investigated and experimental results will be presented to validate the design. The energy harvesting device in the study is 31-unimorph piezoelectric which was used to convert small amplitude mechanical vibration from a specific machine application into an electrical energy source that could be used for electronic devices with low power requirements. The primary purpose of the design is to illustrate a method to design a cantilever beam that is optimized for attached position of piezoelectric by Experiment and FEM. From the given vibration data a range of frequencies where the energy harvesting device will generate the greatest amount of energy is determined. The device is then designed specifically targeting that frequency range with sinusoidal wave about resonant frequency. And results of this study show the change trend of output voltage according to changing circuit elements. This approach is presented as part of a more general approach to designing energy harvesters for any application. Also, it will be shown how attached position of piezoelectric used for cantilever beam were chosen.