A Self-Contained Roadway Kinetic Energy Harvesting System for Energy Recovery

Abstract

Kinetic Energy Harvesting (KEH) systems have been applied to various maintenance-free electronic devices. One of the potential applications of such a system is harvesting a decent amount of kinetic energy generated by road vehicles. Although researches have been conducted on roadway KEH system, it is worthwhile to improve the system in order to convert more energy without worsening the driving experience. This work consists of design of a piezoelectric KEH transducer (Cymbal transducer), and improvement of the KEH circuit. The optimal geometry of each Cymbal unit is determined by the utilization of Finite Element Analysis. After studying several recently introduced piezoelectric KEH circuit topologies, a preferred topology has been adopted for a novel KEH circuit design.A voltage peak detection function and an energy storage unit voltage hysteresis function have been included in the circuit. The circuit has demonstrated a higher energy harvesting efficiency (12.28%) compared to competitors during tests.iii Acknowledgements Firstly, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my research supervisor, Prof. Jie Liu and Prof. Junjie Gu, for their continous encourangment and excellent academic guidance. It was they who led me into a brand-new research field that I found extremely interesting. The weekly research meetings with them are always instructive, and the research experience gained with them will benefit me for the rest of my life. In the meantime, I would like to express my appreciation to our industry partner, BW Services Inc., for their financial support to this research project.My special thanks go to my research team member, Matteo Louter, who has always been by my side during the initial design, the tedious fabrication, and the chilly field tests. He has provided me with so much assistance, and the research experience would not be enjoyable without him. Many thanks should also be given to the Machine shop technologist, Alex Proctor, for his patient operation guidance during the fabrication process, and to the hydraulic load frame technologist, David Raude, who has spent a lot of time helping us do the loading tests, and his sense of humor is always pleasant.Last but not least, I am very grateful to my parents in China for their endless love over these years, and for giving me the opportunity to have this precious overseas study experience.iv