Energy harvesting with a slotted-cymbal transducer

A cymbal transducer is made up of a piezoceramic disk sandwiched between two dome-shaped metal endcaps. High circumferential stresses caused by flexural motion of the metal endcaps can induce the loss of mechanical input energy. Finite element analysis shows that the radial slots fabricated in metal endcaps can release the circumferential stresses, and reduce the loss of mechanical input energy that could be converted into electrical energy. In this letter, the performance of a slotted-cymbal transducer in energy harvesting was tested. The results show that the output voltage and power of the cymbal are improved. A maximum output power of around 16 mW could be harvested from a cymbal with 18 cone radial slots across a 500 kresistive load, which is approximately 0.6 times more than that of the original cymbal transducer.