A comparative analysis of piezoelectric transducers for harvesting energy from asphalt pavement

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to compare the performance of the popular piezoelectric transducers, which may be used to harvest energy from the asphalt pavement. Part of the energies in the pavement caused by vehicle can be harvested by piezoelectric transducers. In order to get more energy from the pavement, the PZT 5H is selected to build the transducers because of its high (d·g) value. The electromechanical coupling factor k and the energy transmission coefficient max are used to evaluate the efficiency of the transducers, as well as its stiffness and durability. The multilayer, MFC (Macro-Fiber Composite), Moonie, Cymbal, Bridge, and THUNDER (Thin Layer Unimorph Ferroelectric Driver and Sensor) are discussed based on finite element analysis. Results show that the multilayer has the highest efficiency with k = 0.75 and max = 0.28. However, its high stiffness limits the ability to get more energy. THUNDER has similar efficiency (k = 0.74, max = 0.24) with multilayer and more storage electric energy. However, its stiffness is far less than pavement. Moonie is not suggested as a pavement generator for its low efficiency. MFC has the very flexible shape and acceptable efficiency (k = 0.24, max = 0.029). It is hard to use it directly in the pavement. The Bridge and Cymbal are suggested for harvesting energy from asphalt pavement for their reasonable efficiency and moderate stiffness close to asphalt pavement. The lifetimes of multilayer, Cymbal and Bridge are reasonable compared to the fatigue of pavement.

Recent progress on piezoelectric energy harvesting: structures and materials

“…co.il). Since asphalt pavement stiffness is between 1000 and 4000 MPa, PEH must have a stiffness coefficient among this range [33]. Moure et al [34] integrated 30,000 cymbals (single cymbal can generate to 16 μW for the pass of one heavy vehicle wheel) to embed into 100-m asphalt pavement with distance to the surface of 2 cm.…”

“…Furthermore, the d 33 mode should have a higher coupling coefficient k than d 31 mode [39]. It means that more electrical power can be scavenged by d 33 mode than d 31 model under the same strain condition. Panda et al [40] compared the energy harvesting devices between PZT multilayer stacks in parallel and bimorphs, and the devices are shown in Fig.…”

“…Therefore, among various structures combined with MEMS, cantilever MPEH has attracted much attention due to its lower structural stiff, simple structure, easy to process and generate strain [47]. Figure 23 shows two vibration modes on MPEH with d 31 in TBEs and d 33 with IDE.…”

“…When the external electric field acts on piezoelectric materials, there mainly existes two vibration mode for PEH, including d 31 and d 33 mode, as seen in in Fig. 27.…”

Electromechanical-Traffic Model of Compression-Based Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting

“…An evaluation on the effectiveness of well-accepted piezoelectric transducers used for the harvesting of energy from tarmac walkways was carried out by [12], [13]. Eventually, they came up with an energy harvesting cymbal that could harvest output power of approximately 1.2 mW from tarmac walkways at a vehicle load frequency of 20 Hz.…”