Branch spiral beam harvester for uni-directional ultra-low frequency excitations.

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in piezoelectric energy harvesting systems, particularly for their potential to recharge or replace batteries in energy-efficient electronic devices and wireless sensor networks. Nonetheless, the conventional linear piezoelectric energy harvesters (PEH) face limitations in ultra-low frequency vibrations (1-10 Hz) due to their narrow operating bandwidth and higher resonance frequencies. To address this, researchers explored compact shaped geometries, with spiral PEH being one such design to lower resonance frequencies by reducing structural stiffness.

Linear Segmented Arc-Shaped Piezoelectric Branch Beam Energy Harvester for Ultra-Low Frequency Vibrations.

Piezoelectric energy harvesting systems have been drawing the attention of the research community over recent years due to their potential for recharging/replacing batteries embedded in low-power-consuming smart electronic devices and wireless sensor networks. However, conventional linear piezoelectric energy harvesters (PEH) are often not a viable solution in such advanced practices, as they suffer from a narrow operating bandwidth, having a single resonance peak present in the frequency spectrum and very low voltage generation, which limits their ability to function as a standalone energy harvester. Generally, the most common PEH is the conventional cantilever beam harvester (CBH) attached with a piezoelectric patch and a proof mass.

Enhancing the Bandwidth and Energy Production of Piezoelectric Energy Harvester Using Novel Multimode Bent Branched Beam Design for Human Motion Application.

In recent years, harvesting energy from ubiquitous ultralow-frequency vibration sources, such as biomechanical motions using piezoelectric materials to power wearable devices and wireless sensors (e.g., personalized assistive tools for monitoring human locomotion and physiological signals), has drawn considerable interest from the renewable energy research community.