DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

HARVESTING ENERGY FROM FOOTSTEPS

USING PIEZOELECTRIC TILE

NAME: TEJAS GIRISH KUMAR PATEL GUIDE: DR.KUMAR HS

USN: 4NM16ME165
(ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR)
SEC: A
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL
ENGINEERING
CONTENTS

 Abstract
 Introduction
 Principle
 Working
 Procedure
 Advantages and Disadvantages
 Application
 Conclusion
 References
ABSTRACT

The objective of this research is to design a piezoelectric tile for harvesting energy
from footsteps and to optimize the system for harvesting maximum energy. Because
piezoelectric modules easily break when directly subjected to energy generated by
human movements, we designed a tile that employs indirect energy transmission
using springs and a tip mass. We aimed at matching the mechanical resonance
frequency of the tile with that of the piezoelectric modules. The resonance frequency
of a piezoelectric module with a 10-g tip mass was almost similar to the vibration
frequency of the tile at 22.5 Hz when we dropped an 80-g steel ball from a 1-m
height. We performed impedance matching and realized a matching value of 15 kU.
Under these optimal mechanical and electrical conditions, we harvested 770- mW
RMS and 55-mW peak output power.
INTRODUCTION

Industrial development has led to increased prosperity for many people around the
world but has also led to a depletion of natural resources and environmental damage.
The consumption of fossil fuels, on which industrial development has been largely
based, has been recognized as a major cause of climate change. The impacts on the
global ecosystem resulting from climate change are in turn expected to lead to
substantial economic losses. As a result, it is clear that new means of fueling
industrial development must be found in order to avoid compromising the gains in
human welfare that have been achieved over the past decades. People have turned
increasingly to alternative energy sources as an answer to the economic,
environmental, political, and social problems linked to fossil fuel use. Alternative
energy sources are broadly defined as energy sources that do not cause or limit net
emissions of carbon dioxide and thus largely avoid the environmental impacts
associated with the combustion of fossil fuels. New and renewable energy sources
include solar energy, wind power, bio-energy, hydropower, geothermal energy,
wave and tidal power, hydrogen and fuel cells, carbon capture and storage, and
waste-to-energy. Human kinetic energy can be transferred in a number of ways.
Human energy is most commonly used to propel bicycles, but can also be used to
generate electricity and power hand-crank tools. Thousands of people walk in public
railway station, public malls, and commercial buildings every hour. The kinetic
energy generated from each of these footsteps are just being wasted. According to
research findings, on a daily basis, men take an average of 7192 steps and women
take an average of 5210 steps. With the population of the world ever increasing,
these values will be multiplied every day. Hence it is clear that footsteps are a
plentiful source of energy which is being neglected by the world.
PRINCIPLE

WHAT IS PEIZOELECTRICITY?

Piezoelectricity is the electric charge that accumulates in certain solid materials

(such as crystals, certain ceramics, and biological matter such as bone, DNA and
various proteins) in response to applied mechanical stress. The word piezoelectricity
means electricity resulting from pressure and latent heat. The piezoelectric effect
results from the linear electromechanical interaction between the mechanical and
electrical states in crystalline materials with no inversion symmetry.[5] The
piezoelectric effect is a reversible process: materials exhibiting the piezoelectric
effect (the internal generation of electrical charge resulting from an applied
mechanical force) also exhibit the reverse piezoelectric effect, the internal
generation of a mechanical strain resulting from an applied electrical field. For
example, lead zirconate titanate crystals will generate measurable piezoelectricity
when their static structure is deformed by about 0.1% of the original dimension.
Conversely, those same crystals will change about 0.1% of their static dimension
when an external electric field is applied to the material. The inverse piezoelectric
effect is used in the production of ultrasonic sound waves.
WORKING

 Normally the charges in piezoelectric crystal are exactly balanced, even if

they’re not symmetrically arranged
 The effects of the charges exactly cancel out, leaving no net charge on the
crystal faces. (more specifically, the electric dipole moment- vector lines
separating opposite charges exactly cancel one another out)
 If you squeeze the crystal, you force the charges out of balance
 Now the effects of the charges no longer cancel one another out and net
positive and negative charges appear on opposite crystal faces. By squeezing
the crystal, you’ve produced a voltage across its opposite ends and that’s
piezoelectricity.
PROCEDURE

 We make use of harvested kinetic energy generated through vertical press foot
movement
 The system makes use of piezoelectric modules connected in series as shown
in the figure
 These tiles are designed to slightly displace vertically when someone walks
on them
 The vertical movement results in rotatory motion that generates electrical
energy
 Some examples of piezoelectric materials are
1. PZT (lead zirconate titanate)
2. Barium titanate
3. Lithium niobate
 The material properties of piezoelectric materials are given below

\
ADVANTAGES

• These tiles can be used indoors or outdoors in high traffic areas,

and generates electricity from pedestrian footfall
• Enough power can be harvested to power the pedestrian lighting
• No moving parts so the service life is more
• These tiles are Reliable, Economical and Eco-Friendly
• Less maintenance cost
• These tiles are waterproof and damp proof.

DISADVANTAGES

• Initial cost is high

• Cannot be used as primary energy source
• We have to import these technology for replacement of tiles
• Only applicable for particular place
• The amount of energy produced is low during the movement of the
slab.
APPLICATIONS

• Foot step generated power can be used for home appliances, street
lightings etc.
• It can be used as a source for both A.C and D.C appliances
• It can also be used in universities
• It can be used as back up power supply in the hospitals during
power failure.
CONCLUSION

• Promoting energy awareness is an integral part of this proposal

• Piezoelectric tiles have been capable for generating 4W-5W
• They are suitable for implementation in crowded areas
• It is a future energy renewable resource using kinetic energy.
• Energy generation source must be something easily implemented
• In this era of increasing energy costs and decreasing supplies of
fossil fuels become vital high priority projects for modern society
• It is most advanced green generation technology and is low cost
and broad generation
REFERENCES

• Hwang, S. J., Jung, H. J., Kim, J. H., Ahn, J. H., Song, D., Song,
Y., Sung, T. H. (2015). Designing and manufacturing a
piezoelectric tile for harvesting energy from footsteps. Current
Applied Physics, 15(6), 669–674.
• Zhang, Y., Cai, S. C., & Deng, L. (2013). Piezoelectric-based
energy harvesting in bridge systems. Journal of Intelligent Material
Systems and Structures, 25(12), 1414–1428.