Abstract：Piezoelectric vibration energy harvesting, which converts energy of the mechanical motions and vibrations that are commonly available in the surrounding environment to electrical energy, can realize self-power sensing, control and actuation. With the advantages of convenience, energy saving, eco-friendliness and sustainability, it has broad application prospects in the fields of aerospace, biomedical engineering, environmental monitoring and military engineering. In recent years, a lot of efforts have been made in piezoelectric vibration energy harvesting. There is still a long way to go to practical application. One of the key issues is the integrated design of the energy harvester. To facilitate the integration of piezoelectric energy harvesting devices with other small electromechanical systems, in-plane piezoelectric vibration energy harvesting is proposed. The piezoelectric vibration energy harvester is designed to be flat and harvest vibration energy in a two-dimensional plane, which can significantly reduce the three-dimensional space with a large power output. An in-plane piezoelectric vibration energy harvester with bistable and force amplification mechanism is designed to improve output power and working bandwidth. These structures can be carved by laser on a flat plate. The deformation and stress of the structures are analyzed. The electromechanical coupling dynamics model of the in-plane piezoelectric vibration energy harvester is established by the energy method. The influences of key design parameters on the performance of the in-plane piezoelectric vibration energy harvester are analyzed. Equivalent piezoelectric coefficient, bistable potential well depth and width can be adjusted by changing design parameters. The dynamic responses of the in-plane piezoelectric vibration energy harvester under harmonic excitation of different accelerations and frequencies are numerically simulated. The results show that the in-plane piezoelectric vibration energy harvester can effectively harvest energy under low frequency weak excitation and wide frequency range through reasonable design. The in-plane piezoelectric vibration energy harvesting design method is conducive to the application and industrialization of portable, wearable self-powered devices.
2019, Vol. 40 
