Vibration-based energy harvesting has drawn significant attention from different engineering disciplines over the last two decades. The studies in this research area have mostly concentrated on cantilevered piezoelectric beam harvesters under base excitations. As an alternative to beam arrangements, patch-based piezoelectric energy harvesters can be integrated on large plate-like structures such as panels of automotive, marine and aerospace applications to extract useful electrical power during their operation. In this paper, electroelastic finite element (FE) simulations of a patch-based piezoelectric energy harvester structurally integrated on a panel of a heavy duty vehicle are presented during different phases of operation. FE model of the panel together with a piezoceramic harvester patch is built using ANSYS software. The FE model takes into account coupled electromechanical dynamics and the fully-conductive electrode layers of the harvester patch. The vibration response of the panel as well as the voltage output of the harvester patch under operating conditions is simulated using the forces obtained from experimental measurements on the heavy duty vehicle. Excitation forces are calculated from operational acceleration measurements using matrix inversion method, which is a force identification technique. Two different operating conditions of the heavy duty vehicle are considered: stationary and moving on a test track while the engine was running. Using the excitation forces in the FE simulations, the electrical power generation of the harvester patch is predicted for a wide range of resistive loads. Electrical power outputs are then presented for short-circuit and open-circuit conditions. The numerical results show that the use of a harvester patch attached on a panel of a heavy duty vehicle generates reasonably well electrical power outputs.

Vibration-based energy harvesting using cantilevered piezoelectric beam has been extensively studied over the last decade. In this study, as an alternative to resonant piezoelectric cantilevers, we studied multiple patch-based piezoelectric energy harvesting from multiple vibration modes of thin plates. Analytical electroelastic model of the multiple patch-based piezoelectric harvesters attached on a thin plate is provided based on distributed-parameter modeling approach for series and parallel configurations of the patches. An experimental setup is built with series-configuration of double patch-based harvesters attached on the surfaces of all-four-edges clamped (CCCC) rectangular aluminum plate. Analytical simulations and experimental validations of power generation of the harvesters are performed in a case study. The experimental and analytical frequency response functions (FRF) relating voltage output and vibration response to force input are obtained. The analytical model is validated by comparing analytical and experimental FRFs for a wide range of resistive electrical boundary conditions. The harvested power output across the various resistive loads is explored with a focus on the first four modes of the aluminum plate. Experimental and analytical results are shown to be in agreement for multiple patch-based piezoelectric energy harvesting from multiple vibration modes of thin plates.

Vibration-based energy harvesting has attracted interest of researchers from various disciplines over the past decade. In the literature of piezoelectric energy harvesting, the typical configuration is a unimorph or a bimorph cantilevered piezoelectric beam located on a vibrating host structure subjected to base excitations. As an alternative to cantilevered piezoelectric beams, piezoelectric layers structurally integrated on thin plates can be used as vibration-based energy harvesters since plates and plate-type structures are commonly used in aerospace, automotive and marine applications. The aim of this paper is to present experiments and electroelastic finite element simulations of a piezoelectric energy harvester structurally integrated on a thin plate. The finite element model of the piezoceramic patch and the all-edges-clamped plate are built. In parallel, an experimental setup is constructed using a thin PZT-5A piezoceramic patch attached on the surface of all-edges-clamped rectangular aluminum plate. The electroelastic frequency response functions relating voltage output and vibration response to forcing input are validated using the experimentally obtained results. Finally, electrical power generation of the piezoceramic patch is investigated using the experimental set-up for a set of resistive loads. The numerical predictions and experimental results show that the use of all-edge-clamped flexible plate as host structure for piezoelectric energy harvester leads to multimodal vibration-to-electricity conversion.