Piezoelectric equivalent circuit models

Abstract

Electromechanical equivalent circuits can be used to model the dynamics of piezoelectric systems. In the following, they will be applied for the modeling of piezoelectric bending generators for energy harvesting. Therefore, the basic analogies between electrical and mechanical systems will be discussed and a simple piezoelectric equivalent circuit model for a system which can be described by a single mechanical modal coordinate will be derived. In a next step, an experimentally based method for the determination of the model parameters will be presented. The modeling of additional mechanical degrees of freedom as well as the modeling of force and kinematic base excitation will also be addressed. © 2009 Springer US.