Electricity Generation System with Piezoelectric Element Using Acoustic Radiation Energy

Abstract

In this study, a circular plate that is installing a piezoelectric element at its center is adopted as energy-harvesting system and is subjected to a harmonic point force. Because this system cannot avoid the influence of its acoustic radiation, the influence is considered theoretically using the equation of plate motion taking into account its radiation impedance and is estimated by the electricity generation efficiency, which is derived from the ratio of the electric power in the electricity generation and the mechanical power supplied to the plate. As a result, the efficiency is suppressed by the acoustic radiation from the plate, so that the efficiencies are so different in whether to take into consideration the radiation impedance or not. Because those results are verified by the electricity generation experiment and radiation acoustic energy has a hopeful prospect for improving the performance of this system, mechanical-acoustic coupling is used to make the most of the acoustic energy. Therefore, a cylinder that has the above plates at both ends is also adopted as the electricity generation system and mechanical-acoustic coupling is caused between the plate vibrations and an internal sound field into the cylindrical enclosure by subjecting one side of each plate to a harmonic point force. Then, the effect of coupling is evaluated by comparing with the efficiencies in the electricity generation system of only plate. Specifically, because the radiation impedance increases with the plate thickness, i.e., with the natural frequency of the plate, it is demonstrated that the effect of coupling becomes remarkable with increasing the thickness on the electricity generation efficiency.