Nonlinear dynamic performance of buckled piezoelectric ribbon-substrate energy harvester

With utilizing of the wearable electronics in daily life, the energy harvesting problem of the electronic devices has become an urgent problem. In this paper, the dynamic behaviour of the energy harvester, which is constructed by bonding piezoelectric ribbons on a pre-strained compliant substrate, is investigated. Taking the geometrical nonlinearity into account, and by using the extended Lagrange equations, the governing equations of the buckled piezoelectric energy harvester are derived. To obtain the steady-state dynamic responses of the governing equations, the harmonic balance method is used. The analytical solutions, which predict the influences of the pre-strain and substrate’s Young’s modulus on the dynamic response of the energy harvester, are obtained. Several numerical examples are carried out to discuss the effects of the pre-strain and substrate’s Young’s modulus on energy harvester dynamic performance. By modulating those two parameters, the high-energy orbit of the buckled structure would be modulated, which is helpful for improving the voltage output performance of the energy harvesting. The results of this paper would be useful for the optimization of energy harvester based on the buckled piezoelectric ribbon-substrate structure.