Numerical investigations of bistable piezoelectric cantilever for enhanced energy harvesting

Abstract

Piezoelectric energy harvesting applications have been highly impacted research area recently. Numerical investigations for bistable piezoelectric cantilevers have great importance to understand its dynamic performance. This paper aims to develop comprehensive numerical models to simulate the dynamic response of aunimorph piezoelectric bender under bistability effect for enhanced energy harvesting. To this end, the equivalent stiffness, damping, electromagnetic coupling and capacitance coefficients of a bistable piezoelectric cantilever have been numerically developed. Besides, finite element models are developed to determine the bistability repulsion force between magnets. The resulting simulations are then implemented in an electromechanical model to predict the output voltage and power over a range of load resistance.