Experimental study on the piezo-based energy harvester utilizing the ambient vibrations for smart applications

The proposed energy harvester has novel construction, its performance evaluated through frequency response, force response and power harvested under an optimum load, is presented. This harvester is more suitable for low power applications like IoT devices, Wireless sensor nodes and biomedical implants. The suggested harvester has two sections namely truncated cone and rectangular beam section (TCRB). The analytical model is formulated and natural frequencies are obtained using FEA tool. Simulations for natural frequencies and associated comprehensive parameters are done along with distribution of stress across the piezo patch. The tapered radius ratio of the truncated cone is analysed to obtain the optimal value. The simulated model is fabricated and verified experimentally. The result is compared with uniform cantilever beam harvester. The voltage produced by a TCRB harvester is 56.76 % higher than the harvester with a homogeneous rectangular cantilever beam. The rectangular harvester has a resonant frequency of 52.8 Hz, while the TCRB harvester has 39.4 Hz. Also, the TCRB type piezoelectric vibration energy harvester with optimum taper radius ratio provides greater power, than uniform and trapezoidal cantilever beams. The obtained experimental results match the simulation results, ascertains the validity of the proposed harvester.