Energy harvesting of two cantilever beams structure: Interfacing circuit discussion

Today research on supplying of low power consumption device is highly focused on piezoelectric energy harvesting from ambient vibration. The most popular structure is a cantilever beam with piezoelectric patch to convert mechanical energy into electric energy. In the past researches, the theoretical analysis and interfacing circuit design of single cantilever beam structure is highly developed. In this study, the electrical interfacing circuit of two (or more) piezoelectric generators connected to only one load is proposed and discussed. The nonlinear synchronized switching technique SSHI (Synchronized Switching Harvesting in Inductor) is examined to increase the power efficiency effectively of each piezoelectric generator. In the multiple cantilever beam or flag structure application, the structure may be composed of many piezoelectric patches and the interfacing circuit becomes more complicated and important. From the theoretical analysis and the governing equation, the equivalent circuit of two cantilever beam will be proposed and simulated with the optimized synchronous electric charge extraction (OSECE) nonlinear technique to optimize the interfacing circuit and increase the power efficiency by using the Matlab and PSIM software. The experiments will also show the good agreement with the theoretical analysis. The interfacing circuit design concept in the two cantilever beams structure can be further used in the multi-piezoelectric patches energy harvesting system such as piezoelectric flag to optimize the circuit and increase the power efficiency.