High Power Output of L-shape PZT Power Generator Working in Bending-Shear Mode

Abstract

This paper proposes a new L-shape PZT vibration power generator designed to generate electrical power when working in bending-shear mode. The L-shape structure can utilize the linear motion of vibration to generate torsion force on the PZT device attached to the structure for energy generation in both bending and shear motions. At first, a simulation study for evaluating the structure’s stress and natural frequency was conducted using Solidworks software. The result shows that the first natural frequency of the structure was at 21 Hz, and it was almost uniformly distributed in terms of distribution of the stress. Next, an experimental analysis was conducted to evaluate the electrical power generation at the first mode of the natural frequency. Lastly, the performance of the proposed power generator was compared to the typical structure of cantilever PZT power generator. The results show that the proposed device was able to produce higher electrical power than the typical cantilever of PZT devices.