Analysis of piezoelectric materials for energy harvesting devices under high-g vibrations

We analyzed the miniaturized energy harvesting devices (each volume within 0.3 cm(3)) fabricated by using three types of piezoelectric materials such as lead zirconium titanate (PZT) ceramic, macro fiber composite (MFC and poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) polymer to investigate the capability of converting mechanical vibration into electricity under larger vibration amplitudes or accelerations conditions (>= 1g, gravitational acceleration). All prototypes based on a bimorph cantilever structure with a proof mass were aimed to operate at a vibration frequency of 100 Hz. PZT-based device was optimized and fabricated by considering the resonant frequency, the output power density, and the maximum operating acceleration or safety factor. PVDF- and MFC-prototypes were designed to have same resonant frequency as well as same volume of the piezoelectric materials as the PZT prototype. All three devices were measured to determine if they could generate enough power density to provide electric energy to power a wireless sensor or a microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) device without device failure.