• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.66 no.10
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• pp.1499-1507
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• 2017

This paper presents an impact-based piezoelectric vibration energy harvester using a freely movable metal sphere and a piezoceramic fiber-based MFC (Macro Fiber Composite) as piezoelectric cantilever. The free motion of the metal sphere, which impacts both ends of the cavity in an aluminum housing, generates power across a cantilever-type MFC beam in response to low frequency vibration such as human-body-induced motion. Impacting force of the spherical proof mass is transformed into the vibration of the piezoelectric cantilever indirectly via the aluminum housing. A proof-of-concept energy harvesting device has been fabricated and tested. Effect of the indirect impact-based system has been tested and compared with the direct impact-based counterpart. Maximum peak-to-peak open circuit voltage of 39.8V and average power of $598.9{\mu}W$ have been obtained at 3g acceleration at 18Hz. Long-term reliability of the fabricated device has been verified by cyclic testing. For the improvement of output performance and reliability, various devices have been tested and compared. Using device fabricated with anodized aluminum housing, maximum peak-to-peak open-circuit voltage of 34.4V and average power of $372.8{\mu}W$ have been obtained at 3g excitation at 20Hz. In terms of reliability, housing with 0.5mm-thick steel plate and anodized aluminum gave improved results with reduced power reduction during initial phase of the cyclic testing.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.30 no.8
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• pp.501-507
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• 2017

A unimorph piezoelectric cantilever generator with an interdigitated electrode (IDE) was developed for vibration energy harvester applications driven in the longitudinal mode. Hard lead zirconate titanate (PZT) ceramic with a high $Q_m$ of 1,280 was used as the piezoelectric active material. Ten PZT sheets produced by tape casting were laminated and co-fired with an Ag/Pd IDE at $1,050^{\circ}C$ for 2 h. The approximately $280{\mu}m$-thick co-fired PZT laminate with the IDE was attached to a stainless steel substrate with an adhesive epoxy for the fabrication of an IDE unimorph cantilever. Its energy harvesting characteristics were evaluated: an output power of $1.1{\mu}W$ at 120 Hz across the resistive load of $700k{\Omega}$ was obtained, corresponding to a normalized power factor of $4.1{\mu}W/(G^2{\cdot}cm^3)$.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Military Science and Technology
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.139-145
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• 2015

In this paper, the flexible piezoelectric nanocomposite generator(NCG) device based on $BaTiO_3$ nanostructures was fabricated via simple and low-cost spin coating method. The $BaTiO_3$ nanostructures synthesized by self-assembly reaction showed dendrite morphologies. To produce the piezoelectric nanocomposite(p-NC layer) which acts as an electric energy source in NCG device, the piezoelectric nanopowders($BaTiO_3$) were dispersed in polydimethylsiloxane(PDMS). Sequently, the p-NC layer was inserted in two dielectric layer of PDMS; these layers enabled the NCG device flexibility as well as durability prohibiting detachment(exfoliation) for significantly mechanical bending motions. The fabricated NCG device shows average maximum open circuit voltage of 6.2 V and average maximum current signals of 300 nA at 20 wt% composition of $BaTiO_3$ nanostructures in p-NC layer. Finally, the flexible energy harvester generates stable output signals at any rate of frequency which were used to operate LCD device without any external energy supply.

• Coupled systems mechanics
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.53-83
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• 2013

Sea waves induce significant pressures on coastal surfaces, especially on rocky vertical cliffs or breakwater structures (Peregrine 2003). In the present work, this hydrodynamic pressure is considered as the excitation acting on a piezoelectric material sheet, installed on a vertical cliff, and connected to an external electric circuit (on land). The whole hydro/piezo/electric system is modeled in the context of linear wave theory. The piezoelectric elements are assumed to be small plates, possibly of stack configuration, under a specific wiring. They are connected with an external circuit, modeled by a complex impedance, as usually happens in preliminary studies (Liang and Liao 2011). The piezoelectric elements are subjected to thickness-mode vibrations under the influence of incident harmonic water waves. Full, kinematic and dynamic, coupling is implemented along the water-solid interface, using propagation and evanescent modes (Athanassoulis and Belibassakis 1999). For most energetically interesting conditions the long-wave theory is valid, making the effect of evanescent modes negligible, and permitting us to calculate a closed-form solution for the efficiency of the energy harvesting system. It is found that the efficiency is dependent on two dimensionless hydro/piezo/electric parameters, and may become significant (as high as 30 - 50%) for appropriate combinations of parameter values, which, however, corresponds to exotically flexible piezoelectric materials. The existence or the possibility of constructing such kind of materials formulates a question to material scientists.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.29 no.12
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• pp.776-780
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• 2016

Recently, energy harvesting technology is increasing due to the fossil fuel shortages. To compensate problem of low generating power than other energy harvesters, many researchers have studied about piezoelectric harvester for obtaining high output. In this paper, four kinds of unimorph based piezoelectric harvesters were proposed and its generating characteristics were studied. Each of the piezoelectric harvesters has three, four, and six unimorph arms, respectively, and the arms are symmetrically arranged from one central point. The centrosymmetric structure of the harvesters guarantees more stable and multiplied generation than a cantilever-type harvester since the arms of the harvester resonate at same frequency. Resonance frequency, output voltage, displacement, and stress characteristics of the generator were analyzed by using a FEM (finite element method) program. Harvesters were fabricated on the basis of analysis results. Experimental results were compared with simulated results.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.168-177
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• 2024

When designing an underwater Piezoelectric Energy Harvester (PEH), Vortex Induced Vibration (VIV) is generated throughout the cantilever through a change in curvature, and the generation of VIV increases the vibration displacement of the curved cantilever PEH, which is an important factor in increasing actual power. The material of the curved PEH selected a Polyvinyline Di-Floride (PVDF) piezoelectric film, and the flow velocity is set at 0.1 m/s to 0.50 m/s for 50 mm, 130 mm, and 210 mm with various curvatures. The strain energy change of PEH by VIV was observed. The smaller the radius of curvature, the larger the VIV, and as the flow rate increased, more VIV appeared. Rapid shape transformation due to the small curvature was effective in generating VIV, and strain energy, normalized voltage, average power, etc. To increase the amount of power of the PEH, it is considered that the average power will increase as the number of curved PEHs increases as well as the steep curvature is improved.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.193-207
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• 2012

New insights into our previously proposed hybrid-type method for vibration control are highlighted in terms of energy analysis, such as the assessment of energy efficiency and system stability. The hybrid method improves the bang-bang active method by combining it with an energy-recycling approach. Its simple configuration and low energy-consumption property are quite suitable especially for isolated structures whose energy sources are strictly limited. The harmful influence of the external voltage is assessed, as well as its beneficial performance. We show a new chattering prevention approach that both harvests electrical energy from piezoelectric actuators and eliminates the displacement-offset of the equilibrium point of structures. The amount of energy consumption of the hybrid system is assessed qualitatively and is compared with other control systems. Experiments and numerical simulations conducted on a 10-bay truss can provide a thorough energy-efficiency evaluation of the hybrid suppression system having our energy-harvesting system.

• Science of Emotion and Sensibility
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.25-38
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• 2021

The aim of this study is to protect workers and pedestrians from accidents at night or bad weather by attaching optical fiber to existing safety clothing that is made only with fluorescent fabrics and retroreflective materials. A safety vest was designed and manufactured by applying optical fiber, and energy-harvesting technology was developed. The safety vest was designed to emit light using the automatic flashing of optical fibers attached to the film, and an energy harvester was manufactured and attached to drive the light emission of the optical fiber more continuously. As a result, first, the vest wearer' body was recognized from a distance through the optical fiber and retroreflection, which helped prevent accidents. Thus, this concept helps in saving lives by preventing accidents during night-time work on the roadside or activities of rescue crew and sports activities, or by quickly finding the point of an accident with a signal that changes the optical fiber light emission. Second, to use the wasted energy, a piezoelectric-element power generation system was developed and the piezoelectric-harvesting device was mounted. Potentially, energy was efficiently produced by activating the effective charging amount of the battery part and charging it auxiliary. In the existing safety vest, detecting the person wearing the vest is almost impossible in the absence of ambient light. However, in this study, the wearer could be found within 100 m by the light emission from the safety vest even with no ambient light. Therefore, in this study, we will help in preventing and reducing accidents by developing smart safety clothing using optical fiber and energy harvester attached to save lives.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.16-22
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• 2024

Composite-based piezoelectric devices are extensively studied to develop sustainable power supply and self-powered devices owing to their excellent mechanical durability and output performance. In this study, we design a lead-free piezoelectric nanocomposite utilizing (Ba_0.85 Ca_0.15)(Ti_0.9Zr_0.1)O₃ (BCTZ) nanomaterials for realizing highly flexible energy harvesters. To improve the output performance of the devices, we incorporate porous BCTZ nanowires (NWs) into the nanoparticle (NP)-based piezoelectric nanocomposite. BCTZ NPs and NWs are synthesized through the solid-state reaction and sol-gel-based electrospinning, respectively; subsequently, they are dispersed inside a polyimide matrix. The output performance of the energy harvesters is measured using an optimized measurement system during repetitive mechanical deformation by varying the composition of the NPs and NWs. A nanocomposite-based energy harvester with 4:1 weight ratio generates the maximum open-circuit voltage and short-circuit current of 0.83 V and 0.28 ㎂, respectively. In this study, self-powered devices are constructed with enhanced output performance by using piezoelectric energy harvesting for application in flexible and wearable devices.

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