Stochastic thermodynamics of a piezoelectric energy harvester model

TL;DR

This paper investigates the stochastic thermodynamics of a piezoelectric energy harvester driven by broadband vibrations, demonstrating that a linear Langevin-based model accurately captures experimental behavior and allows analysis of work fluctuations.

Contribution

It introduces a linear stochastic model for a piezoelectric energy harvester and validates it against experimental data, enabling thermodynamic analysis of work fluctuations.

Findings

The linear model accurately describes experimental data.

The model allows defining fluctuating currents and studying work distribution.

Analytical and numerical results match experimental observations.

Abstract

We experimentally study a piezoelectric energy harvester driven by broadband random vibrations. We show that a linear model, consisting of an underdamped Langevin equation for the dynamics of the tip mass, electromechanically coupled with a capacitor and a load resistor, can accurately describe the experimental data. In particular, the theoretical model allows us to define fluctuating currents and to study the stochastic thermodynamics of the system, with focus on the distribution of the extracted work over different time intervals. Our analytical and numerical analysis of the linear model is successfully compared to the experiments