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http://dx.doi.org/10.7779/JKSNT.2012.32.6.661

Design of a Bimorph Piezoelectric Energy Harvester for Railway Monitoring  

Li, Jingcheng (Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, University of Connecticut)
Jang, Shinae (Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, University of Connecticut)
Tang, Jiong (Mechanical Engineering Department, University of Connecticut)
Publication Information
Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing / v.32, no.6, 2012 , pp. 661-668 More about this Journal
Abstract
Wireless sensor network is one of prospective methods for railway monitoring due to the long-term operation and low-maintenance performances. How to supply power to the wireless sensor nodes has drawn much attention recently. In railway monitoring, the idea of converting ambient vibration energy from vibration of railway track induced by passing trains to electric energy has made it a potential way for powering the wireless sensor nodes. In this paper, a bimorph cantilever piezoelectric energy harvester was designed based on a single degree-of-freedom model. Experimental test was also performed to validate the design. The first natural frequency of the bimorph piezoelectric energy harvester was decreased from 117.1 Hz to 65.2 Hz by adding 4 gram tip mass to the free end of the 8.6 gram energy harvester. In addition, the power generation of the piezoelectric energy harvester with 4 gram tip mass at resonant frequency was increased from 0.14 mW to 0.74 mW from $2.06m/s^2$ base excitation compared to stand-alone piezoelectric energy harvester without tip mass.
Keywords
Piezoelectric; Energy Harvesting; Railway; Structural Health Monitoring;
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Times Cited By KSCI : 1  (Citation Analysis)
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