Energy harvesting from coupled bending-twisting oscillations in carbon-fibre reinforced polymer laminates

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a novel energy harvesting system using laminated carbon fibre reinforced polymer beams that undergo coupled bending-twisting oscillations, enhancing efficiency and frequency range for piezoelectric energy harvesters.

Contribution

It introduces the first use of bend-twist coupled carbon fibre polymer beams with piezoelectric layers for improved energy harvesting, supported by modeling and experimental validation.

Findings

Coupled bending-twisting oscillations increase energy harvesting efficiency.

The system operates effectively over a wider frequency range.

Model predictions align well with experimental results.

Abstract

The energy harvesting capability of resonant harvesting structures, such as piezoelectric cantilever beams, can be improved by utilizing coupled oscillations that generate favourable strain mode distributions. In this work, we present the first demonstration of the use of a laminated carbon fibre reinforced polymer to create cantilever beams that undergo coupled bending-twisting oscillations for energy harvesting applications. Piezoelectric layers that operate in bending and shear mode are attached to the bend-twist coupled beam surface at locations of maximum bending and torsional strains in the first mode of vibration to fully exploit the strain distribution along the beam. Modelling of this new bend-twist harvesting system is presented, which compares favourably with experimental results. It is demonstrated that the variety of bend and torsional modes of the harvesters can be utilized to create a harvester that operates over a wider range of frequencies and such multi-modal device architectures provides a unique approach to tune the frequency response of resonant harvesting systems.