Modelling and Laboratory Tests of the Temperature Influence on the Efficiency of the Energy Harvesting System Based on MFC Piezoelectric Transducers

Abstract

Macro Fibre Composites (MFC) are very effective piezoelectric transducers that, among others, can be used as elements of energy harvesting systems. The possibility to generate electric energy, for example, from mechanical vibrations in order to power electrical elements that could not be powered in another way (using wires or batteries) is a great solution. However, such a kind of systems has to be designed by considering all phenomena that could occur during the exploitation of the system. One of those phenomena is the temperature fluctuation during the device operation. In the presented research work, a mathematical model of the energy harvesting system based on MFC transducers is proposed. The mathematical model was validated by laboratory tests conducted on a laboratory stand equipped with a universal mechanical testing machine (Instron Electropuls 10000) and a thermal chamber. During the tests, the samples were subjected to cyclic excitation simulating the operation of the system in various environmental conditions by forcing changes in the system operation temperature with the constant conditions of its excitation.

The Study of a Control Signal’s Phase Shift Influence on the Efficiency of a System for Active Vibration Damping Based on MFC Piezoelectric Transducers

“…The efficiency of such systems is getting better at the same time because of development of sensors and actuators that are used as well as control systems [7][8][9]. One of important stages on the path of piezoelectric transducer development was NASA's development of Macro Fiber Composite transducers (MFC) [10]. The use of piezoelectric transducers is an increasingly important and popular element of modern mechatronic systems that combine mechanical, electrical engineering and advanced control systems [11][12][13].…”

Optimizing Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting from Mechanical Vibration for Electrical Efficiency: A Comprehensive Review

“…Two primary avenues of exploration emerge: firstly, optimizing the mechanical structure to enhance its resonant response or broaden the maximum stress bandwidth, and secondly, focusing on the electrical optimization of the energy harvesting circuit itself. The prospect of employing composite piezoelectric transducers in systems that recover electrical energy from mechanical vibrations is particularly intriguing for researchers [21,22].…”

“…Piezo composite, consisting of piezoceramics and polymers, has emerged as a promising material due to its highly customizable properties [34]. These composite piezoelectric materials offer an alternative to overcome limitations seen in practical applications of conventional monolithic piezoelectric transducers [54,55]. The development of composite piezoelectric materials involves embedding piezoceramic fibers within a polymer matrix, resulting in active fiber composites and macro fiber composites [37,56,57].…”

“…Mode d 33 has a higher energy conversion rate but lower electrical current when compared with the d 31 -mode. Layers of MFC are stacked after it is machined from a low-cost piezoceramic wafer using a computer-controlled cutting saw fabrication process [52,55,67]. Commercially available copper-clad polyimide film piezoceramic wafer, which is used to hold the fibers in place during handling and machining, is placed on top of a blue surface to create the interdigitated electrodes through the use of a photoresist-and-etch process.…”

Finite Element Modeling and Test of Piezo Disk with Local Ring Electrodes for Micro Displacement

“…To increase the displacement, some displacement amplification methods have been proposed. Typical composite structures include thunder [19], rainbow [20], honeycomb [21,22], Moonie-type [23,24], cymbal-type [25,26], active fiber composites [27,28] and micro-fiber composites [29][30][31][32][33]. Using the cumulative effect of multiple piezoelectric sheets, piezoelectric stacks have been widely used in the field of precision micro-drives.…”