• Composites Research
• /
• v.34 no.6
• /
• pp.357-372
• /
• 2021

The energy harvesting device is known to be promising as an alternative to solve the resource shortage caused by the depletion of petroleum resources. In order to overcome the limitations (environmental pollution and low mechanical properties) of piezoelectric elements capable of converting mechanical motion into electrical energy, many studies have been conducted on a polymer matrix-based composite piezoelectric energy harvesting device. In this paper, the output performance and related applications of the reported piezoelectric composites are reviewed based on the applied materials and processes. As for the piezoelectric fillers, zinc oxide, which is advantageous in terms of eco-friendliness, biocompatibility, and flexibility, as well as ceramic fillers based on lead zirconate titanate and barium titanate, were reviewed. The polymer matrix was classified into piezoelectric polymers composed of polyvinylidene fluoride and copolymers, and flexible polymers based on epoxy and polydimethylsiloxane, to discuss piezoelectric synergy of composite materials and improvement of piezoelectric output by high external force application, respectively. In addition, the effect of improving the conductivity or the mechanical properties of composite material by the application of a metal or carbon-based secondary filler on the output performance of the piezoelectric harvesting device was explained in terms of the structure of the composite material. Composite material-based piezoelectric harvesting devices, which can be applied to small electronic devices, smart sensors, and medicine with improved performance, can provide potential insights as a power source for wireless electronic devices expected to be encountered in future daily life.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
• /
• v.31 no.4A
• /
• pp.287-293
• /
• 2011

This paper investigates the applicability of a piezoelectric cantilever for energy supply of wireless sensor node used in structural health monitoring of bridges. By combining the constitutive equation of piezoelectric material and the dynamic equation of cantilever structure, the coupled governing equation for cantilever equipped piezoelectric patches has been addressed in matrix form. Forced excitation tests were carried out to validate the numerical model and to investigate the power output characteristics of the energy harvester. From the numerical simulation based on the measured bridge accelerations under KTX, Saemaul, Mugunghwa trains, the peak powers generated from the device were found to be 28.5 mW, 0.65 mW, 0.51 mW respectively. It is revealed from the results that bridge vibrations caused by moving loads is not a practical source for energy harvesting because of its low acceleration level, low frequency and short duration.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
• /
• v.39 no.5
• /
• pp.499-505
• /
• 2015

To properly design and assess a piezoelectric vibration energy harvester, it is necessary to consider the application of an efficiency measure of energy conversion. The energy conversion efficiency is defined in this work as the ratio of the electrical output power to the mechanical input power for a piezoelectric vibration energy harvester with an impedance-matched load resistor. While previous research works employed the electrical output power for approximate impedance-matched load resistance, this work derives an efficiency measure considering optimally matched resistance. The modified efficiency measure is validated by comparing it with finite element analysis results for piezoelectric vibration energy harvesters with three different values of the electro-mechanical coupling coefficient. New findings on the characteristics of energy conversion and conversion efficiency are also provided for the two different impedance matching methods.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
• /
• v.34 no.5
• /
• pp.637-644
• /
• 2010

A vibration-powered piezoelectric energy harvester yields the maximum power output when its resonant frequency is made equal to the excitation frequency; however, the power output is dramatically decreased when the energy harvester is operated at off-resonance frequency. It has been observed that the resonant frequency of a piezoelectric energy harvester may change with time and that the excitation frequency often varies when the energy harvester is used in real applications. Hence, in this study, we propose a piezoelectric energy-harvesting module that is suitable for excitations in a certain frequency range. The frequency characteristics of the electrical output of the module are studied through analysis and experiment. A simple frequency tuning method is also suggested for the proposed energy-harvesting module; in this method, frequency tuning is achieved by changing the electrical connections between the constituent energy-harvesting units of the module.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
• /
• v.37 no.8
• /
• pp.983-989
• /
• 2013

This study proposes a piezoelectric vibration energy harvester composed of two diagonally segmented energy harvesting units. An auxiliary structural unit is attached to the tip of a host structural unit cantilevered to a vibrating base, where the two components have beam axes in opposite directions from each other and matched short-circuit resonant frequencies. Contrary to the usual observations in two resonant frequency-matched structures, the proposed structure shows little eigenfrequency separation and yields a mode sequence change between the first two modes. These lead to maximum power generation around a specific frequency. By using commercial finite element software, it is shown that the magnitude of the output power from the proposed vibration energy harvester can be substantially improved in comparison with those from conventional cantilevered energy harvesters with the same footprint area and magnitude of a tip mass.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
• /
• 2009.04a
• /
• pp.456-457
• /
• 2009

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
• /
• 2010.05a
• /
• pp.519-520
• /
• 2010

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
• /
• 2009.10a
• /
• pp.194-195
• /
• 2009

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
• /
• 2012.04a
• /
• pp.538-539
• /
• 2012

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
• /
• 2011.10a
• /
• pp.594-595
• /
• 2011