Generating Characteristics of a Cross-Shaped Piezoelectric Energy Harvester

The cross shaped piezoelectric energy harvester is designed to generate effectively by given vibrations or forces at the center point of the harvester by consisting of four cantilever ceramic harvesters which are centro-symmetrically arranged in one structure. Moreover, these harvesters can be serially arranged on one shaft which going through the center points of each harvester. If vibration source is connected at one end of the shaft, the vibrations from the vibration source can be transferred to the center points of these harvesters simultaneously through the shaft and the harvesters can be activated by one vibration source. By FEA (finite element analysis) and experiment, generating voltage characteristics were obtained. Among the four kinds of materials of the metal plate, stainless steel (SUS304) was chosen to get the highest voltage. The output voltages were increased and the resonance frequencies were decreased when the elastic length was increased. Resonant frequencies and output voltages were no...