Energies, Vol. 12, Pages 2207: Exploiting Elastically Supported Masses in Cantilever for Resonance Frequencies Down-Shifted Vibration Energy Harvester (Energies)

This paper presents a piezoelectric vibration energy harvester (PVEH) with resonance frequencies shifted down by elastically supported masses. The added elastic supporters can diminish the equivalent stiffness of the whole structure, leading to an evident decline in the resonance frequency of the cantilever body. Meantime, a new resonant peak is generated in the lower frequency range. The resonant frequency of the proposed PVEH can be easily adjusted by replacing the rubber band of the elastic support. The constructed configuration is theoretically investigated and experimentally verified. Compared with the conventional cantilever, the proposed device achieved a 46% decrease in resonance frequency and 87% enhancement in output power.