DESIGN AND MODELING OF A PIEZOELECTRIC BIMORPH ENERGY HARVESTER FOR AUTOMOTIVE STRUCTURAL VIBRATIONS
Date of Defense
15-4-2026 2:00 PM
Location
Microsoft Teams
Document Type
Thesis Defense
Degree Name
Master of Science in Electrical Engineering (MSEE)
College
COE
Department
Electrical and Communication Engineering
First Advisor
Prof. Falah Awwad
Keywords
Piezoelectric energy harvesting, bimorph cantilever, automotive structural vibrations, resonance tuning, COMSOL Multiphysics, MATLAB/Simulink, vibration-based energy harvesting.
Abstract
The focus of this thesis is on the design and modelling piezoelectric bimorph energy harvesters for vehicular utilization, particularly on harvesting energy from local structural vibrations of automotive components. The vibrations resulted from road–tire interaction and drivetrain dynamics offer the potential for harnessing electrical energy for low power electronic systems when coupled with low damping resonance harvesting devices. The main purpose of this thesis is to evaluate the potential of a piezoelectric bimorph cantilever tuned to 100–300 Hz local automotive structural vibrations for electrical energy harvesting, and to analyze its actual performance under realistic excitation conditions. The harvester's dynamic response, displacement, and electrical output under base excitation have been investigated through an electromechanical model based on classical vibration theory and piezoelectric constitutive relations. Analyzing the static displacement and eigenfrequency using finite element simulations with COMSOL Multiphysics to verify the analytical predictions. Moreover, MATLAB/Simulink is used to model the equivalent electrical circuit and power conditioning stages to assess the voltage rectification and DC output behavior. The analytical and numerical results show that good energy harvesting can be achieved when the harvester is tuned to the 170–180 Hz frequency band, which is associated with selected local automotive structural vibration sources. Parametric investigations reveal that the harvested electrical output is influenced by cantilever geometry as well as the tip mass and the base acceleration. The simulated electrical responses demonstrate a close agreement between analytical predictions and finite element and system-level outcomes. This thesis presents the analytical-numerical-system modeling framework for the piezoelectric bimorph energy harvesting in the vehicle. The study emphasizes the resonance tuning and installation location and offers design recommendations for optimizing the harvester performance under structural vibrations with a local nature. The research integrates analytical modal analysis, finite element validation, and system-level electrical simulation for automotive piezoelectric energy harvesting, which can create local structural vibrations that can be harvested for energy utilization purposes.
Included in
DESIGN AND MODELING OF A PIEZOELECTRIC BIMORPH ENERGY HARVESTER FOR AUTOMOTIVE STRUCTURAL VIBRATIONS
Microsoft Teams
The focus of this thesis is on the design and modelling piezoelectric bimorph energy harvesters for vehicular utilization, particularly on harvesting energy from local structural vibrations of automotive components. The vibrations resulted from road–tire interaction and drivetrain dynamics offer the potential for harnessing electrical energy for low power electronic systems when coupled with low damping resonance harvesting devices. The main purpose of this thesis is to evaluate the potential of a piezoelectric bimorph cantilever tuned to 100–300 Hz local automotive structural vibrations for electrical energy harvesting, and to analyze its actual performance under realistic excitation conditions. The harvester's dynamic response, displacement, and electrical output under base excitation have been investigated through an electromechanical model based on classical vibration theory and piezoelectric constitutive relations. Analyzing the static displacement and eigenfrequency using finite element simulations with COMSOL Multiphysics to verify the analytical predictions. Moreover, MATLAB/Simulink is used to model the equivalent electrical circuit and power conditioning stages to assess the voltage rectification and DC output behavior. The analytical and numerical results show that good energy harvesting can be achieved when the harvester is tuned to the 170–180 Hz frequency band, which is associated with selected local automotive structural vibration sources. Parametric investigations reveal that the harvested electrical output is influenced by cantilever geometry as well as the tip mass and the base acceleration. The simulated electrical responses demonstrate a close agreement between analytical predictions and finite element and system-level outcomes. This thesis presents the analytical-numerical-system modeling framework for the piezoelectric bimorph energy harvesting in the vehicle. The study emphasizes the resonance tuning and installation location and offers design recommendations for optimizing the harvester performance under structural vibrations with a local nature. The research integrates analytical modal analysis, finite element validation, and system-level electrical simulation for automotive piezoelectric energy harvesting, which can create local structural vibrations that can be harvested for energy utilization purposes.