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Enhancing Energy Harvesting from Low-Frequency Vibrations via Topology Optimization of Bimorph PVDF Cantilevers

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Abstract:

Mechanical vibrations are abundant in human-made environments and can be harnessed using piezoelectric transduction. Among the piezo materials, piezoelectric polymers exhibit flexibility and mechanical compliance, improving resilience to shock and deformation—suited for low-frequency high strain environments. In this paper, distinct designs of piezoelectric active area were topology optimized using ANSYS. Three designs of bimorph cantilevered energy harvesters were developed to obtain the optimum material layouts of piezoelectric PVDF, maximize the voltage output, decrease the resonant frequency, and reduce the amount of material needed. Two additional designs with varying volume retainment were also simulated to investigate the effects of optimization parameters. The best topology optimized design, #2, had a resonant frequency of 16.9 Hz and a piezo voltage of 1.08E-3 V/mm3 normalized to the amount of remaining PVDF after optimization. Although the frequency is still higher than the target ambient energy sources, this study showed that topology optimization in conjunction with design can be used to define structures leading to the energy harvesting application frequency.

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Periodical:

Applied Mechanics and Materials (Volume 935)

Pages:

199-206

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4028/p-3XEaUb

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Online since:

April 2026

Authors:

Patricia M. Aguilar, Louise D. Rayos Del Sol, Candy C. Mercado*

Keywords:

Bimorph Piezoelectric Cantilevers, Low-Frequency, PVDF, Topology Optimization

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© 2026 Trans Tech Publications Ltd. All Rights Reserved

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* - Corresponding Author

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