A model of energy harvesting beam with a piezoelectric material, microfiber composite (MFC), in a unimorph configuration was setup in Matlab using the governing equations of motions of a coupled electromechanical system. The equations of motion were derived using Hamilton’s variational principles and constitutive relations of a piezoelectric material. The mathematical model developed in Matlab was validated with an experiment and frequency response functions. The validated model was used to perform shape optimization so as to obtain the shape of the beam and the patch that harvests the largest voltage. The shape variables were length of the beam (LB), length of the patch (LP), and width of the beam. Optimization reveals that voltage increases with length of the beam and with an inverse tapering (increasing width) of the beam from the root to the tip. This approach presents a systematic way to design energy harvesters and can serve as the basis for the conceptual design of energy harvester for applications such as morphing wings, smart shoe, MEMS devices, etc.
","abstract_html":"<p>A model of energy harvesting beam with a piezoelectric material, microfiber composite (MFC), in a unimorph configuration was setup in Matlab using the governing equations of motions of a coupled electromechanical system. The equations of motion were derived using Hamilton’s variational principles and constitutive relations of a piezoelectric material. The mathematical model developed in Matlab was validated with an experiment and frequency response functions. The validated model was used to perform shape optimization so as to obtain the shape of the beam and the patch that harvests the largest voltage. The shape variables were length of the beam (LB), length of the patch (LP), and width of the beam. Optimization reveals that voltage increases with length of the beam and with an inverse tapering (increasing width) of the beam from the root to the tip. This approach presents a systematic way to design energy harvesters and can serve as the basis for the conceptual design of energy harvester for applications such as morphing wings, smart shoe, MEMS devices, etc.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Lahoti, Suyash"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering","degree_level":"Thesis - Open Access","degree_discipline":"Aerospace Engineering","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2020,"date_issued":"2020-05-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2020-05-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-27T19:25:29Z","subjects":["shape optimization","microfiber","composite","energy harvesters","Aerospace Engineering","Structures and Materials"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.erau.edu/edt/528","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Lahoti, Suyash"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Aerospace Engineering"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis - Open Access"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["shape optimization","microfiber","composite","energy harvesters","Aerospace Engineering","Structures and Materials"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.erau.edu/edt/528"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["A model of energy harvesting beam with a piezoelectric material, microfiber composite (MFC), in a unimorph configuration was setup in Matlab using the governing equations of motions of a coupled electromechanical system. The equations of motion were derived using Hamilton’s variational principles and constitutive relations of a piezoelectric material. The mathematical model developed in Matlab was validated with an experiment and frequency response functions. The validated model was used to perform shape optimization so as to obtain the shape of the beam and the patch that harvests the largest voltage. The shape variables were length of the beam (LB), length of the patch (LP), and width of the beam. Optimization reveals that voltage increases with length of the beam and with an inverse tapering (increasing width) of the beam from the root to the tip. This approach presents a systematic way to design energy harvesters and can serve as the basis for the conceptual design of energy harvester for applications such as morphing wings, smart shoe, MEMS devices, etc.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Shape Optimization of Microfiber Composite Energy Harvesters"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Lahoti, Suyash"],"dc:description.abstract":["A model of energy harvesting beam with a piezoelectric material, microfiber composite (MFC), in a unimorph configuration was setup in Matlab using the governing equations of motions of a coupled electromechanical system. The equations of motion were derived using Hamilton’s variational principles and constitutive relations of a piezoelectric material. The mathematical model developed in Matlab was validated with an experiment and frequency response functions. The validated model was used to perform shape optimization so as to obtain the shape of the beam and the patch that harvests the largest voltage. The shape variables were length of the beam (LB), length of the patch (LP), and width of the beam. Optimization reveals that voltage increases with length of the beam and with an inverse tapering (increasing width) of the beam from the root to the tip. This approach presents a systematic way to design energy harvesters and can serve as the basis for the conceptual design of energy harvester for applications such as morphing wings, smart shoe, MEMS devices, etc.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://commons.erau.edu/edt/528"],"dc:subject":["shape optimization","microfiber","composite","energy harvesters","Aerospace Engineering","Structures and Materials"],"dc:title":["Shape Optimization of Microfiber Composite Energy Harvesters"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Aerospace Engineering"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis - Open Access"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-27T19:25:29Z"}