Experimental characterisation of macro fibre composites and monolithic piezoelectric transducers for strain energy harvesting

Compact and lightweight energy harvesters are needed to power wireless sensor nodes (WSNs). WSNs can provide health monitoring of aircraft structures, improving safety and reducing costs by enabling predictive maintenance. A simple solution, which meets the requirements for lightness and compactness, is represented by piezoelectric generators fixed to the surface of the wing (i.e. the wing skin). Such piezoelectric patches can harvest the strain energy available when the wing is flexed, as occurs, for example, in the presence of gust loading. For this study, monolithic piezoelectric sheets and macro fibre composite (MFC) generators were fixed to plates made of two materials commonly used for aircraft wing skin: Al-2024 aluminium alloy and an epoxy-carbon fibre composite. The plates then underwent harmonically varying loading in a tensile testing machine. The power generation of the harvesters was measured at a selection of strain levels and excitation frequencies, across a range of electrical loads. The optimal electrical load, yielding maximum power extraction, was identified for each working condition. The generated power increases quadratically with the strain and linearly with the frequency. The optimal electrical load decreases with increasing frequency and is only marginally dependent on strain. Absolute values of generated power were highest with the MFC, reaching 12mW (330μW/cm2) under 1170μstrain peak-to-peak excitation at 10Hz with a 66kΩ load. Power generation densities of 600μW/cm2were achieved under 940μstrain with the monolithic transducers at 10Hz. It is found that MFCs have a lower power density than monolithic transducers, but, being more resilient, could be a more reliable choice. The power generated and the voltage outputs are appropriate for the intended applic