Electro-mechanical analysis of a multilayer piezoelectric cantilever energy harvester upon harmonic vibrations

This paper addresses an important issue of the individual layer thickness influence in a multilayer piezo composite on electro-mechanical energy conversion. The use of energy harvesting systems seems to be very promising for applications such as ultra-low power electronics, sensors and wireless communication. The energy converters are often disabled due to a failure of the piezo layer caused by an excessive deformation/stresses occurring upon the operation. It is thus desirable to increase both reliability and efficiency of the electromechanical conversion as compared to standard concepts. The proposed model of the piezoelectric vibration energy harvester is based on a multilayer beam design with active piezo and protective ceramic layers. This paper presents results of a comparative study of an analytical and numerical approach used for the electro-mechanical simulations of the multilayer energy harvesting systems. Development of the functional analytical model is crucial for the further optimization of new (smart material based) energy harvesting systems, since it provides much faster response than the numerical model.