Abstract
We report miniaturization of the piezoelectric vibration energy harvester using the mechanically-switching SSHI (Synchronized Switch Harvesting on Inductor) circuit, and investigated the performance both numerically and experimentally. We achieved in miniaturization of the mechanical switch structure by employing a cantilever having a pressed semicircular part at the tip. The numerical simulation showed that, interestingly, the output power of the proposed harvester increases as the applied vibration level enhances, while the displacement is held constant. The experimental results exhibited the same results as the numerical investigation. The reason for the increase in output power under the constant displacement is that the vibrational force of the harvester exceeds the vibrational suppression force from the piezoelectric material as the base excitation level enhances, leading to the increased number of switching On/Off and thus the output power.
