Ambient vibrations are major source of wasted energy, exploiting properly such vibration can be converted to valuable energy and harvested to power up devices, i.e. electronic devices. Accordingly, energy harvesting using smart structures with active piezoelectric ceramics has gained wide interest over the past few years as a method for converting such wasted energy. This paper provides numerical and experimental analysis of piezoelectric fiber based composites for energy harvesting applications proposing a multi-scale modeling approach coupled with experimental verification.The multi-scale approach suggested to predict the behavior of piezoelectric fiber-based composites use micromechanical model based on Transformation Field Analysis (TFA) to calculate the overall material properties of electrically active composite structure. Capitalizing on the calculated properties, single-phase analysis of a homogeneous structure is conducted using finite element method. The experimental work approach involves running dynamic tests on piezoelectric fiber-based composites to simulate mechanical vibrations experienced by a subway train floor tiles. Experimental results agree well with the numerical results both for static and dynamic tests.

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The complexity of engineering structures dictates a paradigm shift from traditional inspection and damage detection techniques to more reliable and efficient approach. Smarts materials such as piezoelectric materials are being studied as onboard sensors to detect damage progression inside composite structures. Nevertheless, predictive models of such complex structures coupled to piezoelectric materials been absent, especially related to damage detection and prediction. In the current study, a multi-scale approach is suggested to predict the behavior of piezoelectric fiber-based composites. Micromechanical model based on transformation field analysis is described to quantify the overall material properties of electrically active composite structure. Capitalizing on the extracted properties, single-phase analysis of a homogeneous structure is conducted using Carrera Unified formulation; a refined plate theory extended to include electric behavior of active materials. Results obtained here are validated against experimental results. Furthermore, the impact of damage on local and global fields is evaluated on macro-level through simulated voids inside a beam-like structure. KEY WORDSPiezoelectric, composites, and damage identification.---

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