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International Journal of Pavement Research and Technology 11 (2018) 388–395
www.elsevier.com/locate/IJPRT

Application of piezoelectric transducer in energy harvesting in pavement

Xiaochen Xu, Dongwei Cao ⇑, Hailu Yang, Ming He
Research Institute of Highway Ministry of Transport, Beijing 100000, China

Received 1 March 2017; received in revised form 1 September 2017; accepted 13 September 2017
Available online 20 September 2017

Abstract

Mechanical energy appears everywhere in the nature, road vibration energy created by the vehicle will not only do damage to pave-
ment structure, but also is difficult to collect. Utilizing electromechanical conversion characteristics of piezoelectric material, gather the
vibration energy when vehicle passing on the pavement, and design the piezoelectric transducer package box, for traffic lights along the
roads, signs, and so on. Save the cost of laying long distance transmission line, also take full advantage of the loss of energy. Experiments
of piezoelectric boxes has been conducted in pavement to prove the effectiveness of this product. This study shows that utilize piezoelec-
tric technology in road energy harvesting is feasible and has a bright future.
Ó 2017 Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Chinese Society of Pavement Engineering. This is an open access article under the CC
BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Keywords: Road engineering; Piezoelectric transducer package; Energy harvesting; Clean energy

1. Objective vibration energy devices can be divided into three types:

electromagnetic, piezoelectric and electrostatic [5].
With the social and economic development, along with Piezoelectric energy harvesting technology utilize the
the continued depletion of fossil energy, declining environ- characteristic of electromechanical coupling of piezoelec-
mental quality, combined with our sustainable develop- tric materials, directly convert mechanical energy to electri-
ment strategy, how to efficiently collect and facilitate cal energy, compared to electromagnetic and electrostatic
clean energy has been the focus of energy research [1]. generating, piezoelectric power generation with original
Road as a national critical infrastructure, undertakes the small size, does not need an external power supply-driven
transportation of people, goods, and other important func- and so on [6]. Based on these advantages, the piezoelectric
tions [2]. On the road, millions of vehicles generate vibra- technology has developed rapidly, but most piezoelectric
tion on the roads, which is very considerable, vehicle devices are used to collect fixed mechanical equipment
vibration can not only cause damage to road, but also lead vibration energy, tidal and wind power, the application
to a waste of energy [3]. How to collect vibration energy, of piezoelectric technology in the road is still in the
turning it into the energy available for people to use is research stage [7]. Both at homeland and abroad, piezoelec-
the problem that need to be solved [4]. At present, based tric road in theoretical research has achieved certain
on the conversion mechanism, collecting environmental results, but on the whole is still in its initial stages [8]
(See Table 1).
Through practical design, piezoelectric transducers are
⇑ Corresponding author. integrated in packaging boxes, boxes are buried in the
E-mail addresses: [email protected] (X. Xu), [email protected]. road, vehicle rolling on the boxed is able to generate elec-
com (D. Cao). tricity, collect power and can be used in traffic lights and
Peer review under responsibility of Chinese Society of Pavement other equipment.
Engineering.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijprt.2017.09.011
1996-6814/Ó 2017 Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Chinese Society of Pavement Engineering.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
 X. Xu et al. / International Journal of Pavement Research and Technology 11 (2018) 388–395 389

Table 1
Different piezoelectric properties of piezoelectric ceramics material. F
Component e33/e0 d33 (pC/N) g33 (Vm/N) d33 * g33 (m2/N)
PZT 701 425 153 0.041 6273 * 10 15
3 V
PZT 703 1100 340 0.03 10,200 * 10 15 2
PZT 502 1950 450 0.025 11,250 * 10 15
PZT 507 3900 700 0.02 14,000 * 10 15 1
Fig. 1. Piezoelectric 33-model.
2. Introduction to piezoelectric energy harvesting

Energy in environment, such as heat, light, wind, vibra-

tion can be collected and converted into electrical energy
F
which can be stored and transmitted easily, deliver power
directly to the electric elements or stored in batteries, 3 V
ultra-capacitors, and this process is called energy harvest-
2
ing [9]. Piezoelectric energy harvesting is mainly for
mechanical vibration, it’s widespread in everyday life, such 1
as refrigerators, washing machines, industrial equipment, Fig. 2. Piezoelectric 31-mode.
vehicles caused by vibration [10]. Highway carries the main
road traffic demands, mechanical vibration energy of high-
way vehicles can be enormous.
Piezoelectric materials are electrically charged when
stressed, and how much it is electrically charged is deter-
mined by the force, characteristics, electromechanical cou-
pling of piezoelectric material performance and structure
[11]. Piezoelectric materials are core components of piezo-
electric energy harvesting, advances in materials research
determines the energy collection efficiency. The energy den-
sity of the material parameters of piezoelectric voltage (g)
and the piezoelectric strain coefficient (d) multiplied by
(d * g). The condition to get maximum (d * g) is |d| = e2,
e is the dielectric constant of the material (See Table 2).
Piezoelectric energy harvesting devices are commonly
used in two modes: 33-mode and 31-mode. As Fig. 1
shows, in 33-mode, the external stress direction and gener-
ate a voltage in the same direction, in 31-mode, the applied Fig. 3. Stacked structures.
stress is axial and perpendicular to the direction of the volt-
age generated (See Fig. 2).
Common piezoelectric vibration energy harvesting
structures are stacked, cantilevered beam, cymbals. As Piezoelectric ceramics Block
Fig. 3 shows, Multiple stacked piezoelectric structure con-
taining more than two layers of wafer structure, this struc-
ture is capable of improving the current and voltage, and
the working status is always d33-mode, suitable for low fre-
quency single axial stress condition, easy to assemble. As
Fig. 4 shows, bimorph piezoelectric cantilever beam is Cantilever beam
assembled by beam material and two layers of Piezoelectric
Fig. 4. Cantilever beam structure.
ceramic composition, conductive adhesive, two piezoelec-

Table 2
Compressive strength test data.
Size Thickness Failure Compressive Initial Damage Failure
load strength displacement displacement deformation
External Inner diameter Area (mm2) mm KN MPa mm mm mm
diameter (mm) (mm)
20.00 6.00 285.885 5 51 196.999 1.70 2.48 0.78
390 X. Xu et al. / International Journal of Pavement Research and Technology 11 (2018) 388–395

concave Piezoelectric In Japan, piezoelectric floor has been in use in different

metal lid locations. It is usually set in the office as a inducing light,
ceramics
when stepping on, the pressure power transduce to electric-
ity and light the LED up (See Fig. 7).

Fig. 5. Cymbal-type structure.

tric films by series or parallel connection, a block is set at

the end of cantilever, which can increase the cantilever
beam amplitude and adjust the frequency to increase the
output power to apply to real needs. As Fig. 5 shows,
Cymbal-type structure consists of two concave metal lid
sandwiched a Piezoelectric ceramic composition in the mid-
dle, which consists of two lid 0.3–0.5 mm thick and is made
of steel, which convert vertical displacement of the ceramic
lid to lateral displacement. Its ceramic is protected by a Fig. 8. PZT generation unit.
metal cap, which can be applied to conditions of high
stress, stress amplification generates more power, the size
and material of cap can be adjusted to change the reso-
nance frequency (See Fig. 6).
In 2008, Israel claimed they have invented the road
energy harvesting system based on piezoelectric transducer.
It is reported that when the traffic on a single-line is 500/h,
250 kw electricity can be harvested per kilometer.

Fig. 6. PZT compressive curves.

Fig. 9. Instron 8874 fatigue testing machine.

Fig. 7. Fracture surface of PZT before and after compression.

 X. Xu et al. / International Journal of Pavement Research and Technology 11 (2018) 388–395 391

Adiuoteleco Company invested the guardrail light sys- Test results: Compressive strength of test specimen is
tem, the LED lights are powered by the piezoelectric pen- 197 MPa and failure deformation is 0.78 mm, brittle
dulum behind the guardrail, which generates power from materials have no yield stage and crush directly. PZT
the vibration of vehicles (See Fig. 8). is brittle material, under d-33 work mode, the compres-
sion strength is highly above the pavement load.
3. Packaging box design of piezoelectric transducer

3.1. Piezoelectric material performance test 3.1.2. PZT generating capacity test

3.1.1. Piezoelectric material compressive strength test PZT material: PZT-4/PZT-8/PZT-5H

Structure of PZT generation unit: four pieces of PZT
Material: PZT-4 material layer-to-layer structure, parallel connection, stan-
Instrument: press machine; slide caliper dards for each piece: inner diameter 15 mm, external diam-

voltage in 300N peak loading condion

25.00

20.00
voltage/v

15.00
PZT-4
10.00
PZT-8
5.00 PZT-5H

0.00
1Hz 5Hz 10Hz
loading frequency/Hz

voltage in 500N peak loading condion

40.00
35.00
30.00
voltage/v

25.00
20.00 PZT-4
15.00 PZT-8
10.00
PZT-5H
5.00
0.00
1Hz 5Hz 10Hz
loading frequency/Hz

voltage in 1000N peak loading condion

80.00
70.00
60.00
voltage/v

50.00
40.00 PZT-4
30.00 PZT-8
20.00
PZT-5H
10.00
0.00
1Hz 5Hz 10Hz
loading frequency/Hz

Fig. 10. Voltage in 300 N/500 N/1000 N peak loading condition.

392 X. Xu et al. / International Journal of Pavement Research and Technology 11 (2018) 388–395

eter 45 mm, thickness 5 mm, protected by upside-down 3.2. Structural design of piezoelectric transducer
plate metals and electronic-pouring sealant (See Fig. 9).
Experiment instrument: Instron 8874 fatigue testing As the piezoelectric transducer is eventually applied to
machine, NI USB-4065 high-precision digital multimeter the road surface, under vehicle load and withstand the
(See Fig. 10). ordeal of rain and snow, thus, the packaging of piezoelec-
Loading condition: sine wave loading, F = 0.5FPsin tric transducer and lines is necessary. When designing
(xt) + 0.5FP, FP represents peak load, loading frequency piezoelectric transducer package, internal spatial structure,
f = x/2p. FP value: 300 N/500 N/1000 N, loading fre- packaging box capacity, durability need to be taken into
quency: 1 Hz/5 Hz/10 Hz (See Table 3). consideration. Because the piezoelectric material has not
Test result: been used for practical use in China on the road to with-
Test result analysis: stand vehicles rolling, so test a variety of piezoelectric
transducer package is necessary, choose the most suitable
i. Voltage of PZT material is relevant to loading fre- structure for use after testing in pavements. Stacked type,
quency, from 1 Hz to 5 Hz, voltage rises significantly, cantilever beam type, and stacked – cantilever beam mixed
from 5 Hz to 10 Hz, and voltage rises slowly. When type three species structure package has been made, select
under d-33 mode, PZT material is under better work- piezoelectric ceramic zirconium titanium acid lead (referred
ing condition. to for PZT) for piezoelectric functions, this kind of mate-
ii. When loading frequency is above 5 Hz, PZT-5H has rial is widely used for device of research and application,
a higher voltage and a higher relative dielectric con- which has good stiffness, and anti-fatigue features and
stant, in the same size, PZT-5H has a larger capaci- piezoelectric performance. Circuit of piezoelectric trans-
tance, PZT-5H can generate more power under the ducers is set inside the package, electric power outputs
same load. through a cable (See Fig. 11).
iii. By comparison, under d-33 mode, PZT-5H generate Stack – cantilever composite piezoelectric transducer
more power unit volume and is more suitable for SEM integration package stacking boxes and cantilever
piezoelectric energy harvesting. The core parameter package box features, which can harvest both the vibration
of PZT is piezoelectric modulus d33, which determine and stress energy of vehicles on the road (See Table 4).
the generation energy. Packaging box external size of the piezoelectric trans-
ducer is 300 mm * 300 mm * 100 mm, Is divided into a base
After overall consideration, PZT-5H material is a kind and lid, Package box makes full use of internal space,
of ideal material for application in pavements. divides to upper and lower two layer, lower cantilever
beam utilizes bottom height limit its amplitude, upper can-
tilever beam utilizes top box space height limit amplitude,
due to cantilever beam has been equipped with a mass
piece, cantilever beam itself due to gravity cause exists of
Table 3
PZT material parameters. bent sinking, so in limit amplitude upper and lower also
consider gravity sinking factors. If no height restrictions,
Material e33 d33 10-12 C/N kp Curie temperature °C
cantilever oscillation amplitude too large may result in can-
PZT-4 1300 250 0.54 300
tilever beam with piezoelectric patches on damage. Every
PZT-8 1020 220 0.50 310
PZT-5 H 2000 410 0.60 260
piece of cantilever beam using separate fixed blocks for
anchoring, fixed wire ducts on the bottom, with cantilever

Fig. 11. Stack – cantilever composite piezoelectric transducer SEM three views (top view, front view, left view).
 X. Xu et al. / International Journal of Pavement Research and Technology 11 (2018) 388–395 393

Table 4
peak voltage in different loading condition.
Material Load Load area Stress Peak voltage in different loading condition (V)
2
N mm MPa 1 Hz 5 Hz 10 Hz
PZT4 300 1413.717 0.21 9.25 14.30 14.90
500 1413.717 0.35 15.40 23.00 24.30
1000 1413.717 0.71 31.00 48.50 49.40
PZT8 300 1413.717 0.21 7.61 13.95 14.80
500 1413.717 0.35 12.54 23.00 24.10
1000 1413.717 0.71 24.67 45.76 48.09
PZT-5H 300 1413.717 0.21 5.00 18.00 22.00
500 1413.717 0.35 19.00 28.00 36.00
1000 1413.717 0.71 17.00 56.00 70.00

beam piezoelectric patches on power export. Every piece of box structure design, and be able to withstand vehicles
cantilever beam arrangement of lines after end and side lay- rolling road with FVN1.5 nylon jacketed wire (See
ing bridge rectifier circuit components, circuit boards after Table 5).
the rectifier current through a wire hole. Top cover by
screw anchor, the ladder is designed to box are not affected 4. Road laying experiments of the piezoelectric transducer
by the rain. Box as a whole are highly adapted to pavement boxes
height, easy for construction buried (See Fig. 12).
4.1. Two laying types of piezoelectric transducers boxes
3.3. SEM of piezoelectric transducer materials selection
When laying on the road, the laying methods of piezo-
The shells of packaging boxes are made of MC Nylon, electric boxes need to been considered first. We experi-
customized according to the structural design. Package mented with the laying type of burying in the
using silicone sealing ring between the upper and lower construction period road and grooving on the completed
part of the box according to the design of piezoelectric road.
box size for waterproof functions. The screws and nuts Buried in the hot pit during the construction period, the
of piezoelectric box divide into M4 bolts for gripping can- advantages is that the strength of pavement has not devel-
tilever and M6 screws and bolts to install the package oped, the process of laying is less difficult. Disadvantage is
with. To prevent water penetration and moisture affect that due to the size of mixture, burying hole size is difficult
the circuit in the piezoelectric boxes, place desiccant in to control, the gaps between the piezoelectric box and the
them. Electronic encapsulation glue is used to seal the rec- roads may be hard to control, and before the strength for-
tifier bridge and solder and other locations to prevent box mation of the sealant material, combination of pavement
vibration and moisture and other problems affect the nor- around may not be well, and the bottom require additional
mal operation of the circuit. Output cable is to use for the processing.

Fig. 12. The mix piezoelectric box SEM after assembling.

394 X. Xu et al. / International Journal of Pavement Research and Technology 11 (2018) 388–395

Table 5
Piezoelectric box components table.
Serial Name of parts Material/model Cantilever Mix package Notes
number package
1 Packaged cover MC Nylon, custom 1 1 According to blueprint processing
2 Package carrier MC Nylon, custom 1 1 According to blueprint processing
3 Clamping blocks MC Nylon custom 8 4 According to blueprint processing
4 Stainless steel bezel 304 Stainless steel thickness 3 mm/4 mm 0 20 3 mm Actual thickness thickness stainless
Diameter 20 mm steel plate, 4 mm Actual thickness
thickness stainless steel plate
5 Piezoelectric cantilever PZT-5H Double chip series, custom 8 4
beam
6 Piezoelectric power PZT-5H, Stacked in parallel, custom 0 10
generating unit
7 Rectifier circuit board 12 Group rectifier bridge, custom 1 1 By design PCB Map making
8 Waterproofing seals Silicone, customized 1 1 Waterproof sealed
9 Bolts and nuts M6 Countersunk head screw 9 9
10 Bolt M4 Cross bolt 16 8 Fixed beam
11 Desiccant 10 g/ A number of A number of
12 Glass glue Dow Corning neutral glass glue A number of A number of Auxiliary seal
13 Electronic filling glue A:B = 10:1 A number of A number of Sealed circuit board and solder
14 Output cables Nylon covered wire FVN1.5 Red and blue Red and blue
20 m 20 m

Cutting holes in the completed construction with pavement needs to have sufficient strength, meanwhile,
machine-dug for laying the piezoelectric boxes, advantages buried in pavement boxes need to have a certain amount
is that it is easy to accurately cut out the size of box buried of buffer layer to protect packaging box from pavement
pit, and sealant with surrounding pavement materials with deformation damage.
higher strength well cemented. Shortcomings is that the Following this analysis, boxes of piezoelectric trans-
laying procedure need using cutting machine tools, and ducer construction encapsulating material needs to have
cutting depth is not easy to control, second construction sufficient strength and durability, and should have a certain
will led to the difference between around material charac- flexibility to withstand deformation effects. Through inves-
teristics, turns out affecting using performance of roads. tigation, chose Albert pouring glue, which has excellent
Also cutting construction will damage the original struc- high temperature stability and low temperature brittle frac-
ture of pavement, lower road strength. The problem of ture resistance, and is highly resistant to water damage and
how long the traffic can open also need to be take into con- ageing resistance and high adhesion, fast construction time,
sideration when doing laying job on roads that is in use, crack-completed cooling 10–20 min to open traffic.
requirements for materials and construction is high because
the time for cutting, and pit bottom processing, and laying
5. Piezoelectric technology in pavement energy harvesting
box, and cemented material forming strength of process is
research
short.
Piezoelectric box be installed in urban roads and
4.2. Selection of filling materials highways should have different requirements. Designing
several different laying ways and paving ways is feasible,
Both buried in the pit during the construction and bur- urban road has lower requirements on road driving than
ied after the completion of construction of cutting, there Highway, laying piezoelectric boxes may affect road perfor-
are some gaps between packaging boxes and the pavement, mance, such as long-term run formed uniform settlement
causing water damage to roads and other problems, and during the use of roads, second pressure may dense
materials for potting is necessary. Meanwhile, stacked the road again and piezoelectric boxes location high out
piezoelectric transducers mainly collect pavement micro- road; the design speed of urban road is lower, the vibration
deformation due to vehicle load. The bottom of stacked frequency of piezoelectric producer should be lower, traffic
piezoelectric transducer package needs rigid enough to composition is complex, it is difficult to always keep the
guarantee the car load vertical distortion can be passed piezoelectric boxes work at the perfect frequency. Highway
through the external packaging boxes on the piezoelectric. through remote suburb, power system is not perfect and
Cantilever type piezoelectric transducer is mainly to collect maintenance is difficult, through piezoelectric device of
vehicle vibration caused by road surface vibration energy, road can power itself and solve the problem; laying on
mainly through the bond of box walls and the road to pass. highway should focused on the durability of piezoelectric
Cantilever type piezoelectric transducer wall bond with the devices, guarantee no larger uniform settlement in long-term
 X. Xu et al. / International Journal of Pavement Research and Technology 11 (2018) 388–395 395

run situation; Highway running speed is higher, the self- Acknowledgments

vibration frequency of piezoelectric should be higher,
determined by road actual running speed, about 80% of The author would like to thank the Fundamental
design speed. Not only limited to laying under road, Research Funds for the Research Institute of Highway
attachments can be embedded in the tracks, collecting Ministry of Transport for providing the funds for the Tech-
vibrational energy when rail traffic going through. nical Research of Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting project.
From the point of view of energy harvesting, as a kind
of potential, considerable scale, and renewable clean References
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