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ANALYTICAL AND FEA OF PIEZOELECTRIC VIBRATION ENERGY HARVESTERS FOR IOT-BASED RAILWAY TRACK MONITORING SYSTEM

Wahad Ur Rahman*, Atif Sardar, Farid Ullah Khan

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Abstract 

This study aimed to evaluate a cantilever beam-type piezoelectric energy harvester operating on train-induced vibrations for powering Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) used in railway track monitoring systems. The harvester's behaviours under different conditions are simulated in MATLAB using the analytical model. Natural frequency, maximum deflection, and stress were calculated with greater precision using eigen frequency and stationary analysis using COMSOL Multiphysics. At a base excitation of 2 g and a resonant frequency of 120.2 Hz, the simulated results showed that the developed energy harvester prototype could generate up to 14 V of AC output voltage and 495 mW of output power. These findings highlight the promising potential of the proposed energy harvester for transforming train mechanical energy into electrical power. This energy harvester's viability and dependability for real-world applications in monitoring railway tracks are supported by developed analytical and simulation models.

Keywords: COMSOL Multiphysics, Energy harvester, IoT, Train-induced vibration, Railway track monitoring