Numerical and experimental modal analysis of cantilever, asymmetric and symmetric piezoelectric harvester frames

Due to natural vibration such as those induced by air or liquid flow and by exhalation or the pulse of a human body, energy harvesting from environmental vibration is now viable. This level of vibration is usually low (in order of less than ۱ kHz). Accordingly, low frequency vibration-based energy harvesting systems are an important research topic. Piezoelectric vibration-based harvesters are not expensive and do not require external voltage sources, making them a viable alternative to implement energy harvesting system. One of the most challenging and important challenges faced in driving small electronics and wireless sensor networks is the construction of multimodal and multidirectional energy harvester (EH) topologies with high-strain zones. The use of traditional cantilever beam EHs makes these shortcomings particularly significant. In order to overcome these challenges, effective structural design is required. Symmetric and asymmetric ۳D skeletal structure topologies for energy harvesters are planned and presented in this article. The vibrational behaviour of the structures is studied using the finite element method (FEM) and experimental modal analysis (EMA). Therefore, the Finite Element model is validated with the results of the Experimental Modal Analysis. The results suggest that the asymmetric frames can effectively overcome the major EH problems at the same time

Keywords:

Energy Harvesting , Skeletal Frame , Multimodal , Finite Element , Experimental modal analysis