抄録
Electrical power generation devices that use lead zirconate titanate piezoelectric (PZT) elements have been developed to convert structural vibration energy into electrical energy. We have reported the effects of vibration loads on the power-generation characteristics of a PZT element doped with niobium (Nb), and have proposed the use of laminated PZT elements to significantly improve the power-generation characteristics of PZT elements. In this study, we have made three-layer, five-layer and seven-layer PZT elements. In the experimental study, the effects of the number of layers of the laminated PZT element, the loads and frequencies of the powergeneration characteristics of the laminated PZT element are evaluated by vibration tests. The results indicated that the maximum electric power of a seven-layer PZT test piece in this study was around 3.8 mW and yielded about 23 times more power than a single-layers PZT element. Their results shows the generation characteristics were improved by laminated PZT elements when the number of folds was increased.
