Numerical investigation of smart material-based structures for vibration energy-harvesting applications

The present work deals with energy-harvesting devices, which are useful in scavenging power using piezoelectric materials. Utilizing classical beam theory and classical plate theory, finite element modelling has been carried out to optimize the performance of output power of a cantilever beam and a flexible rectangular plate. Harmonic oscillations and base excitation will be the two different forcing functions used to drive the system. Based on this, numerical investigations of the performance of output power for the piezoelectric cantilever beam and flexible rectangular plate with different cases are considered. The present work is also useful for designing the piezoelectric cantilever beams and plates to extract maximum output power within the frequency ranges from 0 to 200 Hz. Numerical investigations on the piezoelectric cantilever beam and flexible rectangular plate with different cases reveal that the performance of output power is influenced by factors like load resistance, applications of with and without host structures, and different design parameters like unimorph, bimorph, embedded, line- and cross-type piezoelectric patch arrangements.