Experimental and Simulation Investigations of the Cantilever Beam Energy Harvester

Machines, cars and other constructions often generates harmful vibrations, which can be used as the excitement signal for the energy harvesting structures. Waste mechanical energy can be converted into the electrical energy using piezoelectric element. The harvester described in the present paper consists of cantilever steel beam with both side glued piezoelectric elements. The excitation is realized as a support harmonic movement, where the amplitude is assumed as constant. Two types of research methods are used: experiment and finite element simulations. In the first one method the harvester is attached to the electrodynamic shaker. The generated voltage and acceleration of the selected point are measured. The finite element model is proposed with material and geometrical parameters similar to the laboratory examined harvester. Also, the generator patch model takes into account the three-dimensional piezoelectric effect instead of one-dimensional, which are popular especially in mathematical modeling. The major case specified in this paper is comparison of the experiment and FEM calculations results, what ensures the correctness of the FE model. The acquired amplitude frequency and time domain characteristics of the displacement and the generated voltage are compared and discussed. The proposed and verified FE model will be used in more advanced simulations.