Electro-mechanical coupling analysis of three-dimensional embedded braided composite piezoelectric vibration energy harvester

In this article, the piezoelectric patches are embedded into three-dimensional (3-D) braided composite material (BCM), and a 3-D embedded braided composite piezoelectric vibration energy harvester (BCPEH) is designed. The 3-D embedded BCPEH can be applied in more complex working environments to protecting the piezoelectric patches, and has a longer lifespan. The material parameters of the 3-D BCM are obtained by analyzing the representative volume units (RVU). Using Hamilton's variational principle, the vibration control equation, and the output voltage and power expression are derived. The influence of excitation frequency, load resistance, and external excitation on the output voltage and power are simulated under different braided angles and embedded depths.