Piezoelectric energy harvesting has become a feasible method for powering micro portable electronics and
wireless sensor networks by converting ambient vibration energy into electrical energy. As a thumb of rule, it is
critical to tune the resonant frequency of the generator to the frequency of the environmental vibrations in order
to induce the maximum structural deformation and then the maximum converted electrical energy through
piezoelectric effect. However, it is well-known that the ambient vibrations are not usually fixed in only one
single frequency and could span over a limited frequency band. In this paper, a band-pass design optimization of
piezoelectric cantilever bimorph (PCB) energy harvester is presented based on the system transfer function of the
PCB generator presented in a previous literature. For such an energy harvester, a group of PCB with dimensions
appropriately selected can be integrated into a band-pass energy harvester working over a limited frequency band
if the dimensions of piezoelectric bimorphs and proof masses are appropriately chosen. Further, the finite
element analysis (FEA) of such a band-pass energy harvester is performed in ANSYS to validate the theoretical
proposal. The result shows that the band-pass design optimization leads to a piezoelectric generator working over
a certain frequency band while keeping outputting the relatively stable open-circuit voltage.
With the popular use of wireless sensor networks, the replacement of the batteries becomes more concerned in the
research communities. Piezoelectric materials (PZT) can be used to convert ambient vibration energy into electrical
energy for use in powering microelectronics. Because the generated power and voltage depend on not only the amplitude
and frequency of the ambient vibration, but also the geometric configuration of the piezoelectric bimorph generator, it is
of great interest to study the relationships between the harvester's geometric configuration and its resonant frequency,
and between the driving frequency and the harvested voltage and power. In this paper, a piezoelectric bimorph cantilever
beam with a proof mass on the free end is adopted as the basic configuration, since it is simple and widely used as a low
resonance frequency energy harvester. The previous model in the literature is described at the beginning, and then the
Euler-Bernoulli beam model is created and calculated numerically. ANSYS simulation is performed to compare the
results of the two different models. The results show that the Euler model has better predication of the resonant
frequency of the PEH than the model in the literature. Finally, the design optimization of PEH is presented.
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