Scaling effects for piezoelectric energy harvesters

This paper presents a fundamental investigation into scaling effects for the mechanical properties and electrical output power of piezoelectric vibration energy harvesters. The mechanical properties investigated in this paper include resonant frequency of the harvester and its frequency tunability, which is essential for the harvester to operate efficiently under broadband excitations. Electrical output power studied includes cases when the harvester is excited under both constant vibration acceleration and constant vibration amplitude. The energy harvester analysed in this paper is based on a cantilever structure, which is typical of most vibration energy harvesters. Both detailed mathematical derivation and simulation are presented. Furthermore, various piezoelectric materials used in MEMS and non-MEMS harvesters are also considered in the scaling analysis.