Effect of Porosity on Energy Harvesting Performance of 0.5Ba(Ca 0.8 Zr 0.2 )O 3 − 0.5(Ba 0.7 Ca 0.3 )TiO 3 Ceramics: A Numerical Study

Finite element analysis is conducted on a barium calcium zirconate titanate 0.5 Ba ( Ca 0.8 Zr 0.2 ) O 8 − 0.5 ( Ba 0.7 Ca 0.3 ) TiO 3 (BCZT) material to investigate its energy harvesting performance at different porosities. Porosities are gradually increased to 25% in steps of 5. BCZT piezoceramics attached to a host cantilever beam in unimorph configuration and subjected to base vibration are considered for the present study. Bothd 31andd 33modes are considered. Power is harvested using a load resistance optimized with the structure's natural frequency of vibration. Up to a certain porosity level, an increase in voltage and power is observed in the system. An increment in voltage by ≈95% ind 31mode and ≈119% ind 33mode is observed at 10% porosity. Power increased by 50% ind 31mode and by 53% ind 33mode at 5% porosity compared with the nonporous material.