An Investigation of Energy Harvesting Using Macro Fiber Composites

• Main Authors: Lee, Peichieh, 李沛頡
• Other Authors: Luo, Zhengzhong
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2012
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/03877331569587656858

碩士 === 大葉大學 === 機械與自動化工程學系 === 101 === Energy harvesting (also known as power harvesting or energy scavenging) is the process by which energy is derived from external sources (e.g., solar power, thermal energy, wind energy, salinity gradients,[citation needed] and kinetic energy), captured, and stored for small, wireless autonomous devices, like those used in wearable electronics and wireless sensor networks. One of the most promising techniques is piezoelectric energy harvesting where strain produced by different means is directly converted to electrical charge via direct piezoelectric effect. The purpose of this study is to develop a technique optimizing the energy harvest of Macro Fiber Composites (MFC) cantilever beam with an end mass system. The equation of motion of cantilever beam with an end mass is derived and the amplified effect of end mass in strain distribution of cantilever beam is also carefully investigated. The efficiency of MFC energy harvesting system with different length of MFC is simulated numerically. With end mass/beam mass ratio equals to 2.0, the study found the system with 60% covered with MFC is 10% more efficient compared to the system with fully covered. The developed numerical techniques provide an invaluable tool for the designing and predicting the MFC energy harvesting system performance which can be in turn be used in many applications.