Effect of the piezoelectric hysteretic behavior on the vibration-based energy harvesting

Vibration-based energy harvesting has received great attention over the last years. The evaluation of the power output of the energy harvesters for different excitation frequencies and amplitudes of vibration has an important role in the design of the devices. In this regard, a wide range of nonlinear effects is observed having considerable influence on the generated power. The main goal of this contribution is to investigate the effect of the piezoelectric hysteretic behavior on the vibration-based energy harvesters. An archetypal model is employed to this aim by considering a one-degree-of-freedom mechanical system coupled to an electrical circuit by a piezoelectric element. Different hysteretic behaviors are investigated by considering the Bouc–Wen model. Numerical simulations are carried out establishing a comparison among hysteretic, nonlinear, and linear piezoelectric behaviors showing their influence on system dynamics.