Design analysis and simulation of serpentine-shaped piezoelectric cantilever beam for pipeline vibration-based energy harvester

Abstract

This study investigated the design and simulation of a novel serpentine-shaped piezoelectric cantilever beam to harness pipeline vibration energy. As the demand for sustainable energy sources increases, harvesting piezoelectric energy from environmental vibrations offers an attractive way to use low-power devices. The purpose of the proposed serpentine configuration is to improve energy dissipation efficiency by maximizing the piezoelectric material exposure to dynamic mechanical stress caused by pipeline vibration. The design process included finite element analysis simulations performed using COMSOL Multiphysics software to optimize the geometry of the cantilever beam. The serpentine structure was strategically designed to take advantage of the flexural vibration caused by the pipeline and its operating dynamics. Extensive simulations evaluated the piezoelectric cantilever beam, taking into account various parameters such as beam size, shape and material properties. From the analysis conducted in COMSOL Multiphysics software, the model was able to produce up to 14.38 V at the resonant frequency of 263 Hz. The simulation results show the effectiveness of the serpentine-shaped piezoelectric cantilever in generating electrical energy from the pipeline vibrations within the safe vibration region of the pipeline from 10 to 300 Hz.

Keywords

• vibration energy harvesting
• piezoelectric energy harvester
• unimorph piezoelectric cantilever beam
• pipeline vibration-based energy harvester
• pipeline vibration energy harvesting