Application Cases

Experiment Name: Study on Piezoelectric Patch-Type Energy Harvesting Device Attached Inside Tires

Research Direction: Tires

Experimental Objective:
Within the low-speed motion range, the piezoelectric patch-type energy harvesting device attached inside tires also holds practical value. The advantages of this device lie in its simplicity, while its drawbacks include susceptibility to piezoelectric material fatigue and damage under strong excitation. Additionally, tire temperatures rise sharply during high-speed operation, and the impact of temperature on the output performance of the energy harvesting system cannot be ignored. To address the influence of temperature on the piezoelectric patch-type energy harvesting device inside tires, this study focuses on investigating the effect of temperature adaptability experiments on the device's output performance.

Testing Equipment:
ATA-3080 power amplifier, signal generator, vibration exciter, LabVIEW software platform, etc.

Experimental Procedure:

Figure: Improved Experimental Platform for System Output Voltage

The laboratory experimental platform for the improved piezoelectric patch-type energy harvesting device attached inside tires is shown above. In this platform, a signal generator is selected as the signal source and connected to a power amplifier (ATA-3080) to amplify the voltage signal. The amplified sinusoidal voltage signal is then applied to a YE series vibration exciter, which simulates road impact on automotive tires. In the experimental platform, a 3 mm thick rubber sheet is used to replace the tire tread, and two L-shaped angle irons are employed to construct a simulated automotive tire platform. An epoxy resin adhesive (3M: DP460) is used to bond the piezoelectric fiber composite (MFC-8514-P1, MFC) onto the 3 mm thick rubber sheet. A 6366 data acquisition card and a LabVIEW software platform installed on the host computer are used to collect the system's output voltage signals.

Building upon the original experimental platform, a microcomputer temperature controller has been added, as shown in the figure below. The controller consists of a constant-temperature heating plate and an LED display, which can adjust the heating plate to heat the area where the piezoelectric patch is located to a specified temperature. The microcomputer temperature controller is set to different temperatures, and the excitation frequency of the YE series vibration exciter is controlled at 2.8 Hz with a pulse width of 40 ms to test the system output voltage at different temperatures. The microcomputer temperature controller adjusts the surface temperature of the piezoelectric patch from room temperature (20°C) to 80°C, simulating the temperature range of tires under normal working conditions on the road, to study the impact of temperature changes on the energy output performance of the harvesting scheme.

Figure: Experimental Platform for Studying the Impact of Temperature on System Output Voltage

Experimental Results:

Figure: Experimental Results of System Output Voltage RMS at Different Temperatures

The microcomputer temperature controller adjusts the heating plate temperature from room temperature (20°C) to 80°C to investigate changes in the system output voltage RMS at different temperatures. The specific experimental results are shown above.

In the experiment, tests were conducted at intervals of 10°C. To verify the durability of the piezoelectric material under high-temperature conditions, results were recorded after maintaining each temperature for 10 minutes. From the experimental results, it can be observed that within the temperature range from 20°C to 80°C, the RMS value of the system's open-circuit output voltage shows no significant changes. The lowest RMS output voltage is 2.64 V at 80°C, and the highest is 2.87 V at 50°C, with minimal overall differences. This preliminary indicates that the energy harvesting scheme can adapt to the special condition of rising temperatures during actual tire operation. Temperature increases have no significant impact on the piezoelectric patch-type energy harvesting scheme using piezoelectric fiber composites (MFC) attached inside tires.

Aigtek ATA-3080C Power Amplifier:

Figure: Specifications of the ATA-3080C Power Amplifier