Joint Characteristic Effect on the Performance of Nonlinear Piezoelectric Energy Harvesters

In this work, the effects of joint characteristics on the performance of a nonlinear piezoelectric energy harvester are investigated numerically. Large amplitude deflection unimorph beam with a tip mass and a nonlinear piezoelectric layer is considered as an energy harvester. By applying Euler-Lagrange equation and the Gauss’s law, mechanical and electrical equations of motion are obtained respectively, under two scenarios, i.e. with an ideal (rigid) joint and with a flexible one. A numerical approach is followed to investigate the effects of each nonlinear parameter of the harvester (stiffness, damping and piezoelectric coefficient) on harvested power. Results show that considering ideal joint between harvester and base structure leads to overestimating the maximum output power and the range of effective excitation frequency.