A Multi-Point Loaded Piezocomposite Beam: Modeling of Vibration Energy Harvesting

Abstract

Energy harvesting from ambient vibrations and mechanical deformations using piezoelectric materials has received significant attention over the last decade. These types of energy harvesters find applications in structural health monitoring, wireless sensor networks, etc. In this paper, vibration energy harvesting from piezocomposite beams with unconventional boundary conditions is investigated. The so-called inertial four-point boundary condition is useful in applications where the cantilevered beam setup leads to non-uniform stress-strain distribution along the beam domain. In this paper, the Euler-Bernoulli beam theory is used to model the beam. The voltage output, maximum power output, and the tip velocity are investigated. The efficiency of the four-point loaded beam is compared to a cantilever beam.