• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.247-266
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• 2014

Conventional cantilevered piezoelectric energy harvesters (PEHs) are usually fabricated with continuous electrode configuration (CEC), which suffers from the electrical cancellation at higher vibration modes. Though previous research pointed out that the segmented electrode configuration (SEC) can address this issue, a comprehensive evaluation of the PEH with SEC has yet been reported. With the consideration of delivering power to a common load, the AC outputs from all segmented electrode pairs should be rectified to DC outputs separately. In such case, theoretical formulation for power estimation becomes challenging. This paper proposes a method based on equivalent circuit model (ECM) and circuit simulation to evaluate the performance of the PEH with SEC. First, the parameters of the multi-mode ECM are identified from theoretical analysis. The ECM is then established in SPICE software and validated by the theoretical model and finite element method (FEM) with resistive loads. Subsequently, the optimal performances with SEC and CEC are compared considering the practical DC interface circuit. A comprehensive evaluation of the advantageous performance with SEC is provided for the first time. The results demonstrate the feasibility of using SEC as a simple and effective means to improve the performance of a cantilevered PEH at a higher mode.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.43-53
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• 2021

Dynamic behavior of piezoelectric ZnO nanowires is investigated using finite element analyses (FEA) on FE models constructed based on previous experimental observations in which nanowires having aspect ratios of 1:2. 1:31, and 1:57 are obtained during a hydrothermal process. Modal analyses predict that nanowires will vibrate in lateral bending, uniaxial elongation/contraction, and twisting (torsion), respectively, for the three ratios. The natural frequency for each vibration mode varies depending on the aspect ratio, while the frequencies are in a range of 7.233 MHz to 3.393 GHz. Subsequent transient response analysis predicts that the nanowires will behave quasi-statically within the load frequency range below 10 MHz, implying that the ZnO nanowires have application potentials as structural members of electromechanical systems including nano piezoelectric generators and piezoelectric dynamic strain sensors. When an electric pulse signal is simulated, it is predicted that the nanowires will deform in accordance with the electric signal. Once the electric signal is removed, the nanowires exhibit a specific resonance-like vibration, with the frequency synchronized to the signal frequency. These predictions indicate that the nanowires have additional application potential as piezoelectric actuators and resonators.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.34-43
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• 2024

New piezoelectric and triboelectric materials for energy harvesting are being widely researched to reduce their processing cost and complexity and to improve their energy conversion efficiency. In this study, BaTiO₃ films of various thickness were deposited on Ni foams by R.F. magnetron sputtering to study the piezoelectric and triboelectric properties of the porous spongy structure materials. Then piezoelectric nanogenerators (PENGs) were prepared with spongy structured BaTiO₃ and PDMS composite. The output performance exhibited a positive dependence on the thickness of the BaTiO₃ film, pushing load, and poling. The PENG output voltage and current were 4.4 V and 0.453 ㎂ at an applied stress of 120 N when poled with a 300 kV/cm electric field. The electrical properties of the fabricated PENG were stable even after 5,000 cycles of durability testing. The triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) were fabricated using spongy structured BaTiO₃ and various polymer films as dielectrics and operated in a vertical contact separation mode. The maximum peak to peak voltage and current of the composite film-based triboelectric nanogenerator were 63.2 V and 6 ㎂, respectively. This study offers new insights into the design and fabrication of high output nanogenerators using spongy structured materials.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.112-117
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• 2018

In this study, a bender-type piezoelectric energy harvester was fabricated and evaluated to compensate for the disadvantages of high-power generation only in the resonance frequency range of a piezoelectric harvester using a piezoelectric cantilever. The generated power was investigated according to various changes in the vibration environment. Compared with the piezoelectric cantilever module, the bender-type piezoelectric module showed a larger number of peak voltages. The primary peak voltage shifted toward the low frequency when the spring was coupled to the bender-type piezoelectric module. The harvester of the three bender-type modules had a vibration frequency exceeding 1 mW in the 34-45 Hz range and generated 3.112 mW of power at the vibration frequency of 38 Hz. The harvester of the six bender-type modules had a vibration frequency exceeding 1 mW in the 31-45 Hz range and generated 3.081 mW of power at the vibration frequency of 35 Hz.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.383-399
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• 2015

Today, as railways increase their capacity and speeds, it is more important than ever to be completely aware of the state of vehicles fleet's condition to ensure the highest quality and safety standards, as well as being able to maintain the costs as low as possible. Operation of a modern, dynamic and efficient railway demands a real time, accurate and reliable evaluation of the infrastructure assets, including signal networks and diagnostic systems able to acquire functional parameters. In the conventional system, measurement data are reliably collected using coaxial wires for communication between sensors and the repository. As sensors grow in size, the cost of the monitoring system can grow. Recently, auto-powered wireless sensor has been considered as an alternative tool for economical and accurate realization of structural health monitoring system, being provided by the following essential features: on-board micro-processor, sensing capability, wireless communication, auto-powered battery, and low cost. In this work, an original harvester device is designed to supply wireless sensor system battery using train bogie energy. Piezoelectric materials have in here considered due to their established ability to directly convert applied strain energy into usable electric energy and their relatively simple modelling into an integrated system. The mechanical and electrical properties of the system are studied according to the project specifications. The numerical formulation is implemented with in-house code using commercial software tool and then experimentally validated through a proof of concept setup using an excitation signal by a real application scenario.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.229-241
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• 2021

Since 2010, polymer-based magnetoelectric (ME) composites have been developed with detailed investigations of multiferroic properties such as piezoelectric, magnetostrictive, and magnetoelectric, etc. In particular, as a piezoelectric polymer, poly(vinylidene fluoride) and its co-polymers have been widely used in ME composites for energy harvesting, health monitoring, environment treatment, and bio-medical applications. In this study, main research trend and selected experimental results of polymer-based ME composites are briefly reviewed with respect to composite structure as well as application field. A conclusion was drawn that the polymer-based ME composites would be feasible as flexible devices or functional membranes in the near future.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.26 no.11
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• pp.831-835
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• 2013

In this study, we fabricated a micro $Pb(Zr,Ti)O_3$ (PZT) film piezoelectric cantilever with a Si proof mass and dual beams through MEMS process. The size of the beam and the integrated Si proof mass were about $4,320{\mu}m{\times}290{\mu}m{\times}12{\mu}m$ and $1,380{\mu}m{\times}880{\mu}m{\times}450{\mu}m$ each. To reduce the air damping and have the larger displacement of dual beams was used for design. After mounting micro PZT film piezoelectric cantilever on shaker, we measured the resonance frequency and a output voltage while making resonant frequency changed. The resonant frequency and the highest average power of the cantilever device were 110.2 Hz and 0.36 ${\mu}W$ each, at 0.8 g acceleration and 23.7 $k{\Omega}$ load resistance, respectively.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.719-730
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• 2021

We have demonstrated a sandwich-type ZnO-based piezoelectric energy harvesting nanogenerator, namely ZCZ-NG device, composed of symmetrically stacked layers of ZnO/carbon tape/ZnO structure. Especially, we have adopted a conductive double-sided adhesive carbon tape in an effort to fabricate a high-quality ZCZ-NG device, leading to its superior output performance in terms of the peak-to-peak output voltage. Effects of the device size, ZnO layer thickness, and bending strain rate on the device performance have been investigated by measuring the output voltage. Moreover, to evaluate the effectiveness of the fabricated ZCZ-NG devices, we have experimentally implemented a sensor network testbed which can utilize the output voltages of ZCZ-NG devices. This sensor network testbed consists of several components such as Arduino-based transmitter and receiver nodes, wirelessly transmitting the sensed information of each node. We hope that this research combining the ZnO-based energy harvesting devices and IoT sensor networks will contribute to the development of more advanced energy harvester-driven IoT sensor networks in the future.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.32 no.6A
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• pp.379-387
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• 2012

This study investigates free vibration characteristics of new energy harvesting multi-layer block structures with different geometrical shapes using solid and shell finite elements and evaluate their piezoelectric effect on experiments. The two and three-dimensional finite element (FE) delamination models for block structures described in this paper is attractive not only because it shows excellent accuracy in analysis but also it shows the entire vibration mode shape. The FE model using ABAQUS is used for studying free vibrations of multi-layer block structures for various tip mass and PZT. In particular, new results reported in this paper are focused on the significant effects of the global and local vibration modes for various parameters, such as size of block shape, existence of tip mass and hole, and location of tip mass and PZT. In addition, we evaluate the power generation capacity of developed energy block structures through a laboratory-scale experiment.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.25 no.10
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• pp.773-778
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• 2012

A road energy harvester was designed and fabricated to convert mechanical energy from the vehicle load to electrical energy. The road energy harvester is composed of 16 piezoelectric cantilevers. We fabricated prototypes using a vehicle load transfer mechanism. Applying a vehicle load transfer mechanism rather than directly installing energy harvesters under roads decreases the area of road construction and allows more energy harvesters to be installed on the side of the road. The power generation amount with respect to the vehicular velocity change was assessed by installing the vehicle load transfer mechanism form and underground form. The energy harvester installed in the underground form generated power of 4.52 mJ at the vehicular velocity of 50 km/h. Also, power generation of the energy harvester installed in the vehicle load transfer mechanism form was 48.65 mJ at the vehicular velocity of 50 km/h.