New paradigms in piezoelectric energy harvesting from civil-structures

Abstract

In this paper, the recent advances in the field of energy harvesting from piezoelectric transducers have been presented. The energy harvesting from the piezoelectric material using the d33 mode has been done enormously in the literature. However, in this paper the energy harvesting feasibility using the d31 mode, which has been recently explored, is discussed. The proposed study in this paper provides a proof-of-concept experimental demonstration of achieving energy harvesting from the PZT patch (a) surface bonded on steel beam and (b) embedded concrete vibration sensor (CVS) in reinforced concrete (RC) beam. The CVS has been specifically designed for RC structures. This packaged sensor (CVS) can withstand the harsh conditions encountered during construction due to its unique packaging characteristics. The laboratory experiments for voltage generation by the PZT patches (a) surface bonded on steel beam and (b) embedded CVS in RC beam have been demonstrated. In both cases, a real life sized simply supported beam has been considered as the host structure. The experimental results have been compared with the proposed analytical model. While the experiments provide a proof-of-concept feasibility of employing the d31 mode, it is also concluded that the shear lag effect must be taken into consideration in the electro-mechanical coupling model.