Design and Study of a Rotating Piezoelectric Energy Harvester with Dual Excitation Modules

This paper proposes a rotating piezoelectric energy harvester with dual excitation modules (D-PEH) designed to improve the energy harvesting ability in rotational motion and enhance the output performance. The dual excitation modules mainly consist of strike blocks and springs. The device is designed to optimize the excitation transfer between two piezoelectric patches, direct contact excitation of two piezoelectric patches, and simultaneous power generation for high power output. The structural variables that affect the output performance of the D-PEH are theoretically analyzed: the number of cam protrusions, rectangular piezoelectric patch mounting angles, and contact type of strike blocks. The modal analysis of the piezoelectric patches is performed using simulation. The experiment investigates the output characteristics of D-PEH at different structural parameters. The two parts achieve optimal power of 529 mW and 15.21 mW at external load resistance of 3 k Omega and 100 k Omega, respectively. The D-PEH can light up 293 light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and stabilizes power to the temperature and humidity sensors. It offers a new idea for increasing the output power of rotating energy harvesters.