Study on the Influence Factors on Harvesting Capacity of a Piezoelectric Vibration Energy Harvesting System Covered on Curved Beam with Acoustic Black Hole

Abstract

The acoustic black hole (ABH) structures have been shown to have great potential for energy harvesting. Within an ABH, the bending wave velocity decreases rapidly and the phase accumulates, resulting in localised energy accumulation. It is very significant that the energy can be harvested and power can be supplied for microelectronic devices. How to improve energy harvesting capacity is a problem that needs to be solved. Previous research on energy harvesting capacity of straight beams and flat plates with ABH has yielded a wealth of results. However, in practical engineering, curved beams are also commonly found. Given the differences in structure, it is of practical significance to study the influence factors on harvesting capacity of the piezoelectric vibration energy harvesting system covered on curved beam with acoustic black hole. First, the vibration characteristics of curved beam with ABH are analysed by the finite element method and localised energy accumulation is observed. Then, energy harvesting capacity is studied by means of the electromechanical coupling model in FEA; it has been found that energy harvesting capacity is lower in high frequency. The reason of this problem is analysed and solved by dividing the size of the piezoelectric sheet in an array layout. Based on this, the influence of array layout of piezoelectric cells on the energy harvesting capacity of the system is focused on. In addition, the influence of resistance value, material property, and curvature of curved beam on the energy harvesting capacity is analysed. Some meaningful results are obtained. These results provide the guidance to the design and optimisation for an energy harvesting system covered on curved beam with ABH.