Modeling and Experimental Investigation of a Slotted Piezoelectric Energy Harvester

Harvesting energy from the surrounding environment and human movement has attracted particular attention in recent years. However, how to broaden the effective working range of energy harvesting and increase its output power is a challenging issue. In this paper, a slotted piezoelectric energy harvester is designed. The stress on the piezoelectric ceramic is increased by slotting to improve the conversion of electromechanical energy. The dynamics and electromechanical coupling of the energy harvester are theoretically analyzed. The parameterized finite element model of the slotted piezoelectric energy harvester is developed. The mode analysis and harmonic response analysis are carried out. The effects of parameters such as the length and height of the mass block, the thickness of the elastic substrate, and the length of the harvester on the vibration characteristics and the output voltage of the harvester are studied. A prototype of slotted piezoelectric energy harvester was fabricated and the experiment was carried out. The experimental results verify the effectiveness of the design of the slotted piezoelectric energy harvester. The developed energy harvester can be used to harvester environmental vibration energy and human vibration energy. It has potential applications in charging sensors and portable electronic devices.