LAUSR

A piezoelectric energy harvester, consisting of a long and thin lead zirconate titanate ceramic tube with tangential polarization, is proposed in this paper for scavenging vibration energy. This harvester operates in 3–3 mode while subjected to radial dynamic hydraulic pressure acting at the inner surface of the tube. Based on the linear piezoelectricity theory, the analytical solutions for the output power density of the device and their dependence upon the vibration frequency, the geometrical parameters of the tube, and the impedance of the load circuit are derived. The numerical results indicate the considerably enhanced performances by adjusting the thickness and radius of the ceramic tube. The stress in the ceramic is calculated to ensure that the applied force is within the operational range. The load impedance has a great effect on the performance of the harvester. A wideband energy harvester, which usually consisted of complex architectures in previous research works, is obtained in this pare by just adjusting the value of the load impedance. This opens up a new approach for us to design wideband energy harvesters with simple structures and thus small size, light weight and low cost.