Profile Geometric Effect of Cantilever Piezoelectric Device Using Flexural Mechanism

Tamil Selvan RAMADOSS, Hilaal ALAM , Prof Ramakrishna SEERAM

Vibrational energy harvesting device exploits unused resonant energies and convert them into useful electrical energy. Cantilever piezoelectric effect has been the most preferred technique and the efficiency of these devices is continuously improved. The amount of stress developed at the cantilever beam surface, on which piezoelectric material is attached or deposited is directly related to the output electrical energy. There have been attempts to increase the output power and efficiency of the harvesters by modifying the surface geometry of the beam by compromising piezo electric material occupancies. In this article, we have introduced flexural profile changes to improve the stress distribution at the beam surface without compromising the piezoelectric material occupancy. Theoretical stress calculations for the modified elliptical profiles are discussed and compared with Finite Element Modelling (FEM) study and thus effective surface area utilization is improved.