The effects of first-order strain gradient in micro piezoelectric-bimorph power harvesters

Author

Yuantai Hu ; Jining Wang ; Feng Yang ; Huan Xue ; Hongping Hu ; Ji Wang

Author_Institution

Dept. of Mech., Huazhong Univ. of Sci. & Technol., Wuhan, China

Volume

58

Issue

4

fYear

2011

fDate

4/1/2011 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

849

Lastpage

852

Abstract

The effects of first-order strain gradient in micro piezoelectric-bimorph (PB) power harvesters are investigated by including the first-order gradient terms in the energy density functions. For a PB, the gradient effects can be focused on the analysis of the strain gradient effect in the thickness direction through choosing the strains and the electric displacements as the independent constitutive variables. It is shown theoretically that the first-order gradient effects have raised the natural frequency of the PB and effectively enhanced the output power density of the harvester.

Keywords

energy harvesting; micromechanical devices; piezoelectric devices; energy density functions; first-order strain gradient effect; independent constitutive variables; micropiezoelectric-bimorph power harvesters; output power density; Couplings; Force; Nanoscale devices; Piezoelectric devices; Piezoelectricity; Power generation; Strain; Computer Simulation; Computer-Aided Design; Electric Power Supplies; Energy Transfer; Equipment Design; Equipment Failure Analysis; Micro-Electrical-Mechanical Systems; Transducers;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0885-3010

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TUFFC.2011.1878

Filename

5750107