Design and experimental evaluation of flextensional-cantilever based piezoelectric transducers for flow energy harvesting

Abstract

Cantilever type piezoelectric harvesters, such as bimorphs, are typically used for vibration induced energy harvesting. However, a major drawback of a piezoelectric bimorph is its brittle nature in harsh environments, precipitating short life-times as well as output power degradation. The emphasis in this work is to design robust, highly efficient piezoelectric harvesters that are capable of generating electrical power in the milliwatt range. Various harvesters were modeled, designed and prototyped, and the flextensional actuator based harvester, where the metal cantilever is mounted and coupled between two flextensional actuators, was found to be a viable alternative to the cantilever type piezoelectric harvesters. Preliminary tests show that these devices equipped with 5x5x36 mm two piezoelectric PZT stacks can produce greater than 50 mW of power under air flow induced vibrations.