Effect of Porosity on Energy Harvesting Performance of 0.5Ba(Ca0.8Zr0.2)O3 − 0.5(Ba0.7Ca0.3)TiO3 Ceramics: A Numerical Study

Finite element analysis is conducted on a barium calcium zirconate titanate (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. Both and modes 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% in mode and ≈119% in mode is observed at 10% porosity. Power increased by 50% in mode and by 53% in mode at 5% porosity compared with the nonporous material.