Development of an analytical-numerical model of a piezoelectric harvester installed on a wing slat

Semi-analytical models of the vibrating slat make it possible to estimate the maximum voltage that can be generated by a piezoelectric harvester bonded to a slat surface. A more detailed analysis must consider details of the three-dimensional geometry of both the harvester and the adhesive layer. This can be carried out only by means of multi-physics finite element software. A finite element model of the whole slat would require a large computational effort as millions of elements are typically needed to model very thin piezoelectric layers. To simplify this analysis, an integrated analytical–numerical method has been developed.

Flow Chart of the analytical–numerical method

A large-scale analytical model of the whole slat is used to calculate the loads on the portion of the slat where the piezoelectric harvester is attached. Then, a small-scale finite element model of the portion of the slat with the harvester is used to calculate the generated voltage. The response of the harvester to random excitation, typical of aeronautic applications, is considered. The effects of details of the harvester design on the generated voltage are analysed.

For more details: An Analytical–Numerical Method for Simulating the Performance of Piezoelectric Harvesters Mounted on Wing Slats, Tommasino, D., Moro, F., Zumalde, E., Kunzmann, J., Doria, A., Actuators, 2023, 12(1), 29.