The applications of wireless sensor nodes (WSNs) are rapidly growing in civil infrastructures, yet constrained by batteries with the short lifespan. Providing an alternative power source will undoubtedly expand the application for WSNs and other technologies such as energy harvesting. This paper presents a basic field study conducted on a city flyover to explore the possibility of piezoelectric energy harvesting from bridge vibrations. A piezoelectric energy harvester based on Micro Fiber Composite (MFC) has fabricated. The maximum voltage and average power generated by stainless steel PEH with surface bonded MFC patch was found to be 1.34 V and 0.784 μW respectively. Finally, the practical application of energy harvested achieved by lighting an LED with vibration energy.

© (2019) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

Sumit Balguvhar, Pramod Dalal, and Suresh Bhalla, "Feasibility of piezoelectric energy harvesting from real-life city flyover: a case study," Proc. SPIE 10973, Smart Structures and NDE for Energy Systems and Industry 4.0, 109730U (Presented at SPIE Smart Structures + Nondestructive Evaluation: March 06, 2019; Published: 18 March 2019); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2511941.