Identification of System Model for a Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting Device

Abstract

The piezoelectric effect describes the property of some crystalline materials to polarize when subjected to a mechanical deformation thereby generating a potential difference, and at the same time to deform in an elastic manner when traversed by electrical current Discovered in 1880 by French physicists Jacques and Pierre Curie, the piezoelectric effect is defined as the linear electromechanical interaction between the mechanical and electrical state such that electric charge is accumulated in response to the applied mechanical stress. Piezoelectric crystals use piezoelectric effect to convert mechanical strain into electric current or voltage that is used to power up low power devices. It is an efficient way of energy harvesting and aims at providing clean energy solutions to everyday needs. In this paper COMSOL Multiphysics 5.6 has been used to develop the system model of a cantilever shaped piezoelectric energy harvesting device. The mathematical model developed can be later utilized to study the various responses of the device.