Right-angle piezoelectric cantilever with improved energy harvesting efficiency

Abstract

This paper reports a piezoelectric device based on a cantilever with an extended auxiliary part that forms a right angle with the basic part. Theoretical analyses and experiments support that, by using such a device, uniform strain distribution in piezoelectric element surfaces can be obtained, and thus the piezoelectric materials can be used more efficiently. A piezoelectric element on a right-angle cantilever can generate a useful power twice that of a traditional cantilever under the same strain limitation.