A low-frequency sloshing-driven piezoceramic energy harvester for wireless IoT nodes: experiment and simulation

Abstract Powering Internet of Things (IoT) devices presents significant challenges, particularly in structural health monitoring (SHM) in remote locations or environments where maintenance is difficult. Piezoceramics, a class of functional ceramics capable of converting mechanical energy into electrical energy, offer potential solutions to this issue. This paper proposes a paddle-shaped energy harvester to operate within a gas–liquid two-phase flow, utilizing piezoceramics to power sensors. The motion induced by liquid sloshing drives a bluff body, enabling periodic power generation through the piezoceramics. A theoretical model based on Euler–Bernoulli beam theory is developed to investigate the harvester’s performance further. The influence of bluff body parameters on output voltage is examined through a combination of experimental and simulation methods. By systematically varying key parameters, the dynamic response of the energy harvester is analyzed, with a focus on the strain and electrical signal output of the piezoceramics. The results demonstrate that the harvester can achieve a peak-to-peak output voltage of 36.42 V from low-frequency vibration. The maximum power output is 319.38 μW, and the power density reaches 2.716 mW cm −3 . Additionally, the harvester’s ability to leverage liquid sloshing suggests its potential integration with Tuned Liquid Dampers (TLDs) for energy harvesting and vibration control.