Simulation and experiment study on a piezoelectric energy harvester with capability of monitoring pipeline vibration

Abstract This paper proposes a piezoelectric energy harvester that can simultaneously monitor pipeline vibration for fault identification, and its working process is analyzed through simulation and experiment. The influence of pressure pulsation parameters and installation position on output characteristics is explored. The findings suggest that pressure pulsations induce alternating stress and deformation in pipelines, which can be harnessed to generate electrical energy, and their fluctuation patterns are in precise alignment. As pulsation frequency increases, the voltage become less pronounced due to stable stress and deformation. With increasing static pressure, the voltage corresponding to the fundamental frequency remains unchanged, while the voltage at the system frequency increases, leading to an overall increase in total voltage. Additionally, when the energy harvester is located between two fixed pipe clamps, the harvested voltage is enhanced. A fault identification experiment reveals that loosening a single pipe clamp decreases the voltage, whereas loosening the clamps on both sides improves the voltage. The present energy harvester facilitates the detection of vibrations and fault conditions in pipelines, and can also be employed in arrays to power circuits dedicated to fault identification, thereby introducing novel approaches for passive fault monitoring in pipeline.