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 Smart Materials and Structures

Smart Mater. Struct. 24 (2015) 105017 (13pp) doi:10.1088/0964-1726/24/10/105017

Modeling on energy harvesting from a

railway system using piezoelectric
transducers
Jianjun Wang1, Zhifei Shi1, Hongjun Xiang1 and Gangbing Song2
1
School of Civil Engineering, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, People’s Republic of China
2
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204, USA

E-mail: zfshi178@bjtu.edu.cn and zfshi178@sohu.com

Received 9 February 2015, revised 20 May 2015

Accepted for publication 13 July 2015
Published 9 September 2015

Abstract
Theoretical models of piezoelectric energy harvesting from railway systems using patch-type and
stack-type piezoelectric transducers are studied. An infinite Euler–Bernoulli beam on a Winkler
foundation subjected to moving multi-loads is adopted to describe the dynamic behavior of
railway track. The voltage and electric power of piezoelectric transducers installed at the bottom
of a steel rail are derived analytically. Comparisons with earlier works and experimental results
are given, indicating that the present solutions are reliable. Additionally, a parametric study is
conducted to discuss the effects of axle loads, running velocity and load resistors on the
solutions. The numerical results show that patch-type and stack-type piezoelectric transducers
can harvest the available energy from track vibration to supply power for a wireless sensor
network node and can also serve as sensors to monitor basic train information, such as the
running velocity, the location and the axle load. The present investigations provide a theoretical
guide in the design of piezoelectric patch and stack energy harvesters used in railway systems,
which can serve as power sources for distributed wireless sensor networks in remote areas. The
research results also demonstrate the potential of piezoelectric patches and stack harvesters in
designing self-powered wireless sensor networks used in railway systems to ensure train
operation safety.

Keywords: piezoelectric transducer, energy harvesting, railway system

(Some figures may appear in colour only in the online journal)

1. Introduction robust [4]. Therefore, searching for an alternative energy

Over the past few decades, traffic has developed rapidly in
China, especially in rail transit. In 2014, China had more than
110 000 kilometers of railway. Ensuring vehicle running
safety has become a critical issue. An effective measure is to
install a huge amount of wireless sensor networks along
railway lines to monitor the basic information of the train
(such as running velocity, location and axle load) and the
health status of tracks, bridges and sleepers [1–3]. When the
wireless sensor networks are installed in remote areas, power
supply is a difficult issue. Traditional power cables or battery
replacement are excessively expensive or infeasible in this
type of application, and the use of other alternative sources of
electricity such as solar and wind energy is not reliable or
source to provide electricity to these remote areas is still a key
challenge.
The vibrational mechanical energy of track structures
induced by passing trains is huge [5]. This energy is a
potential alternative energy source, however, it is still not
being used effectively. Converting vibrational mechanical
energy as the assistant power source for wireless sensor net-
works is a technological barrier. Two main kinds of energy
harvesters have been developed to harvest energy from track
vibrations. One is an electromagnetic energy harvester. Wang
et al [5] and Pourghodrat et al [6] have both designed a kind
of electromagnetic energy harvester to harvest track vibration
energy. The two devices have similar design concepts that
convert the linear vertical displacement of the track into the

0964-1726/15/105017+13$33.00 1 © 2015 IOP Publishing Ltd Printed in the UK

Smart Mater. Struct. 24 (2015) 105017
rotational motion of a generator by using a gear and rack
mechanism, and maintaining the rotational motion of the
generator with roller clutches and a flywheel. Installed on two
adjacent sleepers, these electromagnetic energy harvesters can
generate a much larger power output in the level of W.
The other is a piezoelectric energy harvester. This is a
promising kind of device [7, 8], which has been utilized
widely to harvest various vibrational energy sources, such as
human motion [9, 10], wind [11, 12], water flow energy [13],
traffic-induced pavement vibrations [14–18] and traffic-
induced bridge vibrations [19, 20], etc. Several piezoelectric
generators have been explored to harvest energy from track
vibration. Nelson et al [21] mounted a piezoelectric film at the
bottom of a rail to scavenge power from the deformation of
the rail. The average power harvested was about 1 mW.
However, a detailed model was not established. Innowattech,
an Israeli company, developed an energy harvesting pad
composed of piezoelectric stacks installed under the rail fas-
tener for a larger power application [22]. However, the
detailed techniques were not reported publicly. Li et al [23]
designed a cantilever-type harvester with a tip mass to harvest
the vibrational mechanical energy of railway track induced by
passing trains. A key technique is to match the resonant fre-
quency of the cantilever-type harvester and the dominant
frequency range of the rail vibration. Subsequently Li et al
[24] designed a wide band piezoelectric array assembled from
six different piezoelectric beams, and mounted it on the side
of a rail track to evaluate its energy harvesting performance in
a field test. The field test results do not reach the expected
design goal. The related work still needs further exploration
and improvement [24]. Yuan et al [4] designed a type of drum
transducer installed under the sleeper for harvesting energy
from track vibration and established a corresponding theore-
tical model. The model was also verified reliably by devel-
oping an experiment rig. The simulation and experiment
results show that the drum transducer can generate about
100 mW in a real track situation and about a 50–70 V peak
open-circuit voltage at the full load of the train. The results
show that the power harvested from track vibrations is suf-
ficient to supply power for the wireless sensors.
In [4, 21, 23, 24], the power output of the designed
piezoelectric energy harvesters is smaller than that of the
electromagnetic harvesters [5, 6]. However, the energy har-
vested is capable of supplying the wireless sensor network
node. Compared with electromagnetic harvesters, piezo-
electric energy harvesters have some advantages in that they
are simple structures with small volumes. Moreover, a larger
power application has been reported by the Israeli company
[22]. These results show that piezoelectric energy harvesters
have a bright future in harvesting the energy from track
vibration.
However, reports about the modeling of energy har-
vesting from railway systems using piezoelectric transducers
are very rare. This paper aims to give a theoretical analysis of
energy harvesting using patch-type and stack-type piezo-
electric transducers from the track deformation caused by
passing trains. In section 2, an infinite Euler–Bernoulli beam
on a Winkler foundation subjected to moving multi-loads is
2
J Wang et al
Figure 1. Schematic of railway track structure with piezoelectric
energy harvesters.
adopted to describe the dynamic behavior of railway track
structure. In section 3, the voltage and electric power of
piezoelectric transducers installed at the bottom of a steel rail
are derived analytically. In section 4, comparisons with earlier
works and experiment results are presented to validate the
reliability of the theoretical solutions. In section 5, a para-
metric study is conducted to discuss the effects of axle loads,
running velocity and load resistors on the solutions. Then, the
performance of stack sensors in monitoring the basic infor-
mation of the train is explored.
2. The modeling of a beam on a Winkler elastic
foundation subjected to moving loads
As shown in figure 1, a schematic of railway track structure
with piezoelectric patch-type and stack-type energy harvesters
is illustrated. In the figure, a piezoelectric patch-type energy
harvester is mounted at the bottom of a rail. A piezoelectric
stack-type energy harvester is also installed at the bottom of
the steel rail by a connecting device. Because the piezoelectric
transducers are much smaller than the track structure as a
whole, we neglect their effects on the whole track structure.
The differential equation of motion for a beam on a Winkler
elastic foundation subjected to moving loads describing the
dynamic behavior of railway track structure is given by
[25, 26]
¶ 4w ¶ 2w N
EI + r + kw = åPi d ( x - xi - vt ) (1 )
¶x 4 ¶t 2 i=1
where w = w (x, t ) is the transverse deflection of the rail, E is
the Young modulus of the rail, I is the moment of inertia of
the rail, EI is the flexural rigidity of the rail, r is the mass per
unit length of the track structure, k is the equivalent stiffness
of the track structure, Pi is the load of the ith pair of wheels, xi
is the space coordinate of the ith pair of wheels, d is the Dirac
delta function and t is the time.
As shown in figure 1, the load Pi is applied on the
coordinate xi at the initial time (i.e. t = 0 ), and x1 = 0,
xi = -li - 1, where li - 1 denotes the distance between the first
and the ith pair of wheels.
Smart Mater. Struct. 24 (2015) 105017 J Wang et al

exhibited in figure 2. Considering that the piezoelectric

transducer is polarized along the z-axis, the d31-type con-
stitutive equations can be expressed as [29–32]
ex = S11E sx + d31Ez (5 )
Dz = d31sx + ks33 Ez (6 )
where sx and ex are the axial stress and the axial strain of the
patch transducer respectively. Dz and Ez are the electric
s
displacement and the electric field respectively. S11E , k 33 and
d31 are the elastic compliance at constant electric field, the
dielectric permittivity at constant stress and the piezoelectric
strain constant respectively.
The axial strain ex can be expressed approximately as
Figure 2. I-I cross-section of the rail. ¶ 2w
ex = -h pc (7 )
¶x 2
k r
Define as b 2 = EI
, a= 2EI
in equation (1), to get where h pc is the distance from the neutral axis of the steel rail
to the center of the patch transducer in the z-direction.
¶ 4w ¶ 2w N
P
+ 2a 2 + b2 w = å EIi d ( x - xi - vt ) (2 ) Substituting equation (5) into equation (6) yields [33, 34]
¶x 4
¶t i=1
Dz = e31ex + ke33 Ez (8 )
b
Here, the critical velocity = is defined. Its physical
vcr2 e s s
a where e31 = d31 S11E and = -k 33 k 33 (1are the 2
d 31 S11E k 33 )
meaning is the lowest phase velocity of a bending wave in the
effective piezoelectric stress constant and the dielectric
beam [27, 28]. When the load velocity reaches the critical
permittivity at constant strain respectively.
velocity, beam resonance occurs. In fact, the resonance
As the electrodes are connected by an electric circuit with
phenomenon must be avoided to ensure train operation safety.
a load resistor R and the electric field is taken as
Subsequently, equation (2) is solved by using the Fourier
Ez = -V (t ) hp , the electrical equation can be formulated as
transform and the Residue Theorem [26] under v < vcr . Thus,
the steady-state solution of the transverse deflection of the rail d⎛ ⎞ V (t )
can be derived as
⎜
dt ⎝ òA p
Dz dA p ⎟ =
⎠ R
(9 )

N
where V (t ) is the voltage across the resistive load and Ap is
w= åwi (3 )
the area of the piezoelectric patch.
i=1
Substituting equations (7) and (8) into equation (9) yields
where
d V (t ) d
⎧ Pi e-axi Cp V (t ) + = Q (t ) (10)
⎪ b cos bxi + a sin bxi ] , xi  0 dt R dt
⎪ 4EIbab [ k e33 bp l p
wi = ⎨ (4 ) where Cp = , Q (t ) = -e31 h pc bp [ ¶¶wx ∣x = L + lp - ¶¶wx ∣x = L ].
⎪ Pi eaxi
hp

⎪
⎩ 4EIbab
[ b cos bxi - a sin bxi], xi < 0 bp , h p and l p are the width, thickness and length of the
piezoelectric patch.
Solving equation (10) with the initial condition
in which, xi = x - xi - vt, a = b -2av , b = b +2av .
2 2
Q ( 0)
V (0) = C = 0, yields
p
The above dynamic solution is solved without con- Q (t ) 1 - RCt t t
sideration of the damping influence. The reason for this is that V (t ) =
Cp
-
RCp2
e p
ò0 Q (t ) e RC p dt . (11)
damping has a great effect on dynamic response near the
resonance [15, 27], i.e. the critical velocity. When the load
velocity is far from the critical velocity, the influence of Solving equation (11), the voltage can be derived ana-
damping is very small, or even negligible. lytically.
Q (t ) 1 - RCt
V (t ) =
Cp
-
RCp2
e p
{ ⎡⎣ Y total ( L + lp, t )
3. Energy harvesting using piezoelectric
transducers -Ytotal ( L + lp, 0)⎤⎦

3.1. Patch-type piezoelectric transducer - [ Ytotal (L, t ) - Ytotal (L, 0)] } (12)

As shown in figure 1, a patch-type piezoelectric transducer is where

placed at the bottom of a steel rail to harvest the mechanical N
energy induced by the moving train. A detailed I-I cross- Ytotal (x , t ) = åYi (x , t ) + C (13)
section of the 60 kg m−1 rail with the piezoelectric patch is i=1

3
Smart Mater. Struct. 24 (2015) 105017 J Wang et al

in which C is the integral constant.

⎧ t
⎪ Pi e RC p e-axi ⎡⎣ A˜ cos bxi + B˜ sin bxi ⎤⎦ ,
⎪
e31h pc bp ⎪ xi  0
Yi (x , t ) = ⎨ t
4EIab ⎪ Pi e RC p eaxi ⎡⎣ C˜ cos bxi - D˜ sin bxi ⎤⎦
⎪ x- x i
⎪ + P e vRC p A˜ - C˜ , x < 0
⎩ i ( ) i

(14)
in which
( bv )
A˜ = ,
⎛ 1 ⎞2
(bv)2 + a2 ⎜ v + ⎟
⎝ aRCp ⎠ Figure 3. Installation schematic of piezoelectric stack.
⎛ 1 ⎞
a ⎜v + ⎟ stack and rail is finished through a piezoelectric stack device
⎝ aRCp ⎠ and a magnetic base. The piezoelectric stack device includes a
B˜ = displacement transmission rod, a compression spring, a force
⎛ 1 ⎞
2

(bv)2 + a2 ⎜ v + ⎟ transmission unit, a piezoelectric stack, a whole metal shell,

⎝ aRCp ⎠ screw bolts and a wire hole. The transverse track displacement
( bv ) of the rail is converted into a force through the compression
C˜ = ,
⎛ spring, and is then transferred to the piezoelectric stack. A
1 ⎞
2

( bv ) + a ⎜ v -
2 2
⎟ schematic of this device and its photo are exhibited in figure 4.
⎝ aRCp ⎠ Furthermore, the piezoelectric stack under the excitation
⎛ 1 ⎞ of dynamic pressure q (t ) in the z-direction (3-direction)
a ⎜v - ⎟ shown in figure 5 can be used to match this case. All pie-
⎝ aRCp ⎠
D=
˜ . zoelectric layers are polarized along the z-axis. The d33-type
⎛ 1 ⎞
2
constitutive equation of piezoelectric material can be
( bv ) + a ⎜ v -
2 2
⎟ expressed as [9, 35, 36]
⎝ aRCp ⎠
Dz = d33 sz + ks33 Ez (18)

When R  ¥ , the second term will disappear in where sz is the stress of piezoelectric material along the z-
equation (12) and then the open circuit voltage can be direction, which is induced by the deformation of the rail. Dz
obtained. and Ez are the electric displacement and the electric field
respectively. k s33 and d33 are the dielectric constant and the
Q (t )
VOC (t ) = . (15) piezoelectric coefficient respectively.
Cp However, it is very difficult to obtain the exact stress along
the z-axis in the stack transducer. For simplicity, the inertial
The electric power can further be expressed as force in the transducer itself is ignored. Previous works show
that this method is feasible and reasonable [36, 37]. Thus, the
V 2 (t ) stress sz in the transducer can be expressed approximately as
P (t ) = . (16)
R ks w
sz = q (t ) = (19)
As
The total energy Wtotal is defined as where k s is the stiffness of compression spring.
T2
Stack-type constitutive equations can be formulated
Wtotal = òT 1
P (t ) d t (17)
approximately as [9, 37]
⋅eq
where T1 and T2 are the start and stop time of the effective Dz = d33 sz + ks33⋅ eq Ez (20)
electric power signal respectively. ⋅eq
where d 33 = nd33 and k s33⋅ eq
= nk s33 are the effective piezo-
3.2. Stack-type piezoelectric transducer
electric and dielectric constants respectively.
As the electrodes are connected by an electric circuit with
As shown in figure 1, a stack-type piezoelectric transducer is a load resistor R and the electric field is taken as
placed at the bottom of a steel rail to harvest the mechanical Ez = -V (t ) hs, the electrical equation can be formulated as
energy induced by the moving train. A detailed installation
d⎛ ⎞ V (t )
schematic of the piezoelectric stack is exhibited in figure 3. In ⎜
dt ⎝ òA Dz dAs ⎟ =
⎠ R
(21)
figure 3, the coupling connection between the piezoelectric s

4
Smart Mater. Struct. 24 (2015) 105017 J Wang et al

Figure 4. Schematic of a piezoelectric stack device and its photo.

⋅eq
d33 ks
Yi (x , t ) =
4EIbab
⎧ t
⎪ Pi e RC p e-axi ⎡⎣ A˜ 0 a + B˜0 b cos bxi
⋅eq
( )
⎪
⎪ + B˜0 a - A˜ 0 b sin bxi ⎤⎦ , xi  0
( )
⎪
⎪ t
⎪ Pi e RC p eaxi ⎡⎣ -C˜ 0 a - D˜ 0 b cos bxi
⋅eq

´⎨
( ) (25)
⎪ + D˜ 0 a - C˜ 0 b sin bx ⎤
( )
i⎦
⎪
⎪ x- x i
⎪ + Pi e vRC p ⎡⎣ A˜ 0 a + B˜0 b
⋅eq
( )
⎪
⎪ ⎤
(
⎩ + C0 a + D 0 b ⎦ , xi < 0
˜ ˜ )
Figure 5. Simplified schematic of a piezoelectric stack under the in which
excitation of dynamic pressure.
( bv )
where V (t ) is the voltage across the resistive load. hs and As A˜ 0 = ,
⎛ 1 ⎞2
are the thickness and area of every piezoelectric patch. (bv)2 + a2 ⎜⎜ v + ⎟
⋅eq ⎟
Substituting equations (19) and (20) into equation (21) ⎝ a RC p ⎠
yields ⎛ 1 ⎞
d V (t ) d a ⎜⎜ v + ⎟⎟
Cp⋅eq V (t ) + = Q (t ) (22) ⎝ aRCp⋅eq ⎠
dt R dt B˜0 =
ks⋅ eq ⎛ 1 ⎞
2
⋅eq
where Cp⋅eq 33 As
= h , Q (t ) = d 33 k s w ∣x = L 0 . ( bv ) + a ⎜ v +
2
⎜ 2
⎟
⎟
s
⎝ aRCp⋅eq ⎠
Solving equation (22) with the initial condition
Q ( 0)
V (0) = C ⋅eq = 0, the voltage can be derived analytically. ( bv )
C˜ 0 = ,
⎛ ⎞2
p

Q (t ) 1 - t ⋅eq 1
V (t ) = - e RC p (bv)2 + a2 ⎜⎜ v - ⎟⎟
Cp⋅eq
RCp⋅eq2
⎝ aRCp⋅eq ⎠
´ ⎡⎣ Ytotal ( L 0, t ) - Ytotal ( L 0, 0) ⎤⎦ ⎛ 1 ⎞
{ } (23)
a ⎜⎜ v - ⎟⎟
⎝ aRCp⋅eq ⎠
where D˜ 0 =
N ⎛ 1 ⎞
2

( bv ) + a ⎜ v -
2 2
⎜ ⎟
Ytotal (x , t ) = åYi (x , t ) + C (24)
⎝ aRCp⋅eq ⎠
⎟
i=1

5
Smart Mater. Struct. 24 (2015) 105017 J Wang et al

4. Validation

4.1. Patch-type piezoelectric transducer

In the earlier work [15], a theoretical analysis of piezoelectric

energy harvesting from the traffic induced deformation of
pavements was conducted. Pavement behavior was described
by an infinite Bernoulli-Euler beam resting on a Winkler
foundation, and a theoretical formula of output voltage was
derived when the wheel load was characterized as a dis-
tributed load model. Using equation (12), the analytical vol-
tage without damping could be obtained when the wheel load
was characterized as a concentrated load model. Furthermore,
the analytical electric power can also be solved by
equation (16). The results for different load models can be
plotted in figure 6. Related parameters are taken from the
earlier work [15]. Comparative results show that the present
analytical solution is correct.

4.2. Stack-type piezoelectric transducer

In the previous work [35], an analytical model is proposed to

study the dynamic properties of a piezoelectric stack gen-
erator. It is very valuable as a guide to the detailed design of a
piezoelectric stack. However, the analytical model is com-
plicated and inconvenient in the actual application. A com-
mon simplified model [36, 37] is appropriate in the present
case, as shown in equation (22). However, the simplified
model must meet an assumption that the highest frequency
content of the dynamic pressure is much lower than the
fundamental resonance of the stack [37]. In this section,
comparisons between the simplified model and the earlier
analytical model [35] are presented to prove the reasonability
of the simplified model in the application of a railway system.
When the dynamic pressure is considered as a harmonic form
q (t ) = q0 e jwt (where q0 is the load amplitude, j = -1 is Figure 6. Comparisons of time history for a distributed load and a
the unit imaginary number, w = 2pf is the circular frequency, concentrated load. (a) Voltage–time history. (b) Power–time history.
and t is the time), then the steady-state voltage can be
expressed as V (t ) = V0 e jwt , where the complex voltage V0
can be derived as [37] and two protective ceramic layers, whose material properties
are taken from the earlier work [35], as shown in table 2. This
⋅eq
jwd33 As q0 stack is a basic component in designing the piezoelectric stack
V0 = ⋅eq
(26)
jwCp + (1 R) devices used in railway systems in the following discussion.
Subsequently, a piezoelectric stack device was fabricated
based on the above stack, as shown in figure 4. Its main
Taking F = 400 N and R = 1 MW (where F = q0 As is design sizes are 50 mm×50 mm×165 mm. In the actual
the axial force amplitude), figure 7(a) shows the voltage situation, the compression spring is designed as a replaceable
amplitude change with the load frequency. It can be seen that component to meet the needs of multi-stiffness, and its stiff-
when the load frequency increases to a specific value, the ness must be negligible compared to that of the rail to ensure
difference between the two models observed is obvious. An vehicle operation safety. In addition, the spring should have a
error analysis is listed in table 1. The results show that the large deflection to cover the main range of track displacement
simplified model has good accuracy when the load frequency [5, 39]. Two kinds of springs are appropriate, as shown in
is below 3000 Hz. This frequency range is broad enough for table 3. An experiment has been done to explore the energy
the application of a railway system [38]. Furthermore, the harvesting performance of the piezoelectric stack device and
voltage amplitude change with the load resistor under validate the reasonability of the simplified model. Figure 8
F = 400 N and f = 88.4 Hz is plotted in figure 7(b). The shows a photograph of the experiment setup. The test system
comparative results ensure further reliability of the simplified consists of a low-frequency fatigue testing machine, a resistor
model. The target stack exhibits an area of 20 mm ´ 20 mm, control box and a digital oscilloscope. A displacement load
and consists of 20 layers of PZT-5H, 21 brass electrode layers signal is first applied to the device by the fatigue testing

6
Smart Mater. Struct. 24 (2015) 105017 J Wang et al

arranged in figure 10 under a displacement amplitude of 4 mm

with a frequency of 4 Hz. The comparative results present
good consistency. Furthermore, an error analysis of open
circuit voltage amplitude between the experiment and the
theory is listed in table 4. About 10% of the errors might have
been caused by the following: (1) the specific material
properties were not very precisely measured since the material
parameters are provided by the manufacturer rather than being
measured individually; (2) the friction forces between the
displacement transmission rod, the compression spring, the
force transmission unit and the external metal shell, which
exist in the experiment, have not been considered.

5. Discussion

5.1. Energy harvesting for moving multi-loads

In the work [25], a sleeper distance of d = 0.57 m and a

60 kg m−1 rail was adopted. For the 60 kg m−1 rail shown in
figure 2, the distance he between the neutral axis and the
bottom of the rail is 81.2 mm. Other parameters of railway
track structure are adopted, as shown in table 5. In the work
[39], an X2 train with five cars—one of which is the engine—
is considered. The geometrical properties and the axle-loads
of the train are listed in figure 11. In the following calculation,
P1 = F1 and x1 = 0 m, P2 = F1 and x2 = -2.9 m, and so on.
Firstly, energy harvesting using a piezoelectric patch will
be discussed. The size of the piezoelectric patch is
20 mm ´ 20 mm ´ 0.2 mm, and the PZT-5H listed in
table 2 is adopted. In the following analysis, the piezoelectric
patch is installed at the location L = 300d + (d - l p ) 2.
Here, the total energy Wtotal is defined for describing the
energy harvesting property. Figure 12 presents the effects of
velocity and load resistor on the total energy Wtotal. It indicates
Figure 7. Comparisons between the simplified model and the
analytical model (a) voltage amplitude versus the load frequency and that there is a matching load resistor to obtain the maximum
(b) voltage amplitude versus the resistor load. total energy, and that the matching load resistor will decrease
with an increase in running velocity. This phenomenon is
similar to the typical characteristics of piezoelectric energy
Table 1. Error analysis between the simplified model and the harvesters under the harmonic load [8]. For a given load
analytical model.
frequency, a certain value of load resistor exists that obtains
Load frequency f (Hz) the maximum level of electric power. In the present case, the
velocity is related to the load frequency, and the total energy
Method 100 1000 2000 3000 Wtotal is related to the electric power. Under the guidance of
Simplified model 31.68 31.68 31.68 31.68 this conclusion, we can design different external loads in
Analytical model 31.68 31.69 31.72 31.77 different limited speed zones to harvest more energy. For
Error (%) 0.00 0.03 0.13 0.28 v = 30 m s-1, the matching load resistor and the maximum
total energy are approximately Rmatch = 211 kW and
Error=(analytical model-simplified model)/analytical Wtotal = 0.214 mJ respectively. In fact, the axle loads of every
model.
coach are different. Figure 13 shows the effects of axle loads
on the total energy of coaches 2, 3 and 4. It can be seen that
machine. This displacement load signal includes a preloaded the total energy increases with the increase in axle loads. For
displacement load and a cyclic displacement load, as shown the X2 train examined with five coaches, the same change in
in figure 9. Then, an expected resistor is adjusted by using the the axle loads of coach 2, coach 3 and coach 4 has almost no
resistor control box, and the generated electrical signals can effect on the total energy. Figure 14 plots the voltage-time
be observed by the oscilloscope. Finally, when the vibration history and power-time history at v = 30 m s-1 and
is stable, oscilloscope data is saved on a U-disk. The Rmatch = 211 k W. To estimate the output voltage and power
experiment data and the simplified theoretical results are conveniently, the root mean square (RMS) of the output

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Smart Mater. Struct. 24 (2015) 105017 J Wang et al

Table 2. Properties of PZT-5H, elastic electrode (brass) and normal ceramic [35].

Material type PZT-5H H62-Brass Ceramic

Piezoelectric coefficient d33 (10−12 C N−1) 700 ∼ ∼
Piezoelectric constant d31 (10−12 C N−1) −186 ∼ ∼
Elastic compliance constant S11E (10−12 m2/N) 13 ∼ ∼
Elastic coefficient C33 (GPa) 62.22 100 60.6
Permittivity coefficient ks33 (nF m−1) 34.03 ∼ ∼
Density r (103 kg m−3) 7.45 8.43 7.50
Layer thickness (mm) 1.54 0.1 1.48
Layer number 20 21 2

Table 3. Spring parameters.

Number Model Outside dia- Inside dia- Free Maximum deflec- Spring stiffness
meter (mm) meter (mm) length (mm) tion (mm) (kgf mm−1)

1 SM20×10×60 20 10 60 19.2 4.16

2 SH20×10×60 20 10 60 14.4 8.33

1 N=0.102 kgf.

Figure 8. Experiment setup.

Figure 10. Output voltage amplitude change with the load resistor.

Table 4. Comparisons of open circuit voltage amplitude between

experiment and theory.
Open circuit voltage amplitude (V)
Method Spring 1 Spring 2
Experiment 11.60 23.36
Theory 12.92 25.87
Error (%) 10.21 9.70

Error=(theory-experiment)/theory.

Table 5. Parameters and critical velocity of railway track

structure [25].
k (MN m-2) EI (MN ⋅ m2) r (kg m-1) vcr (m s-1)
56.15 13.25 2735 141
Figure 9. An applied displacement load signal.

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Smart Mater. Struct. 24 (2015) 105017 J Wang et al

Figure 11. The geometrical properties and the axle-loads of the X2 train [39].

Figure 12. Total energy versus the load resistor (patch). Figure 13. Total energy change with the axle loads of different
coaches (patch).

1 T
signal is defined as RMS (f (t )) = 2
òT1 f (t ) . Here, T
2
T
(T = T2 - T1 ) is an effective time period, and T1 and T2 are the
start and stop time of the effective signal respectively. The
details can be observed in figure 14. In this case, an output
power (RMS) of about 0.19 mW and an output voltage
(RMS) of about 4.82 V can be generated. Subsequently, the
optimal resistor and its corresponding output voltage and
power change with increasing velocity are plotted in
figure 15. It can be seen that with the increase of the running
velocity, the optimal resistor decreases, but the corresponding
output voltage and power increase.
Secondly, energy harvesting using a piezoelectric stack
will be discussed. The stack includes 20 piezoelectric patches,
which are connected mechanically in series but electrically in
parallel. Its material properties are listed in table 2. In the
following analysis, the location L 0 = 400d + d 2, and the Figure 14. Time history of voltage and electric power (patch).

stiffness of the compression spring k s = 81.67 ´ 103 N m-1

are adopted, unless otherwise stated. Similarly to the above
investigation, figure 16 presents the effects of velocity and
load resistor on the total energy Wtotal. It shows a similar
change rule as in figure 12. The difference is, that the
matching load resistor and the maximum total energy are
approximately Rmatch = 180 k W and Wtotal = 0.0547 mJ at
v = 30 m s-1 respectively. In addition, figure 17 also presents
the same effects of axle loads on the total energy of coaches 2,
3 and 4 as shown in figure 13. The stiffness of the com-
pression spring of the piezoelectric stack device is an
important factor in the design process, and the corresponding
results are plotted in figure 18. It shows that the total energy
increases with the increase of the stiffness of the compression
spring. In the actual situation, two effective methods are
appropriate for increasing the stiffness of the compression
spring. One is to exchange it for a spring with a higher

9
Smart Mater. Struct. 24 (2015) 105017 J Wang et al

Figure 15. The optimal resistor and its corresponding output voltage
and power change with the velocity (patch).
Figure 18. Total energy change with the stiffness of the compression
spring of a piezoelectric stack device.

Figure 16. Total energy versus the load resistor (stack).

Figure 19. Time history of voltage and electric power (stack).

Figure 17. Total energy change with the axle loads of different Figure 20. The optimal resistor and its corresponding output voltage
coaches (stack). and power change with the velocity (stack).

stiffness; the other is to combine multi-springs mechanically used to estimate the output voltage and power. For the above
in parallel. Figure 19 plots the voltage-time history and case, an output power (RMS) of about 0.027 mW and an
power-time history at v = 30 m s-1 and Rmatch = 180 kW. output voltage (RMS) of about 1.59 V can be generated.
Similarly, the root mean square (RMS) of the output signal is Subsequently, figure 20 presents the effects of the running

10
Smart Mater. Struct. 24 (2015) 105017
Figure 21. Installation schematic of stack sensors.
Figure 22. Performance of the stack sensors (a) running velocity and
location and (b) axle load.
velocity on the optimal resistor and its corresponding output
voltage and power. It can also be seen that with the increase
of the running velocity, the optimal resistor decreases, but the
corresponding output voltage and power increase.
The above sections have discussed the basic energy
harvesting performance of piezoelectric patch and stack
transducers. The aim of the harvested energy will be to supply
power to the wireless sensor network node. In [40], the
necessary minimum energy of the wireless sensor network
node in a working cycle is 12.85 mJ. When a whole train
consists of four X2 coaches, and about 100 trains run each
day at v = 30 m s-1, the maximum total energy produced is
85.6 mJ for the patch transducer and 21.88 mJ for the stack
11
J Wang et al
transducer respectively. The harvested energy can be used to
activate the wireless sensor 6 times and once respectively.
The results show that the harvested energy from the stack
transducer is smaller. That is because the stiffness of the
compression spring is smaller. When the stiffness of the
compression spring is increased to a larger value of
1 MN m-1, the maximum total energy can reach up to
3276 mJ, which can be used to activate the wireless sensor
network sensor 254 times. In the above discussions, an
external resistor is used to simplify a power-conditioning
circuit, and the energy dissipated is analyzed in an optimized
resistor. In practice, use of power-conditioning circuits will
decrease the conversion efficiency. In the earlier work [20], a
relative efficiency h of an ALD EH300 circuit compared to
the reference resistor is estimated as 0.6. If the efficiency h
can be used to estimate the present conversion efficiency
approximately, the generated energy can still supply enough
power to the wireless sensor network node.
5.2. Sensor performance in monitoring the basic information of
the train
Generally, an optimal resistor is designed for the harvester.
However, a large resistor is designed for the sensor, i.e. the
open-circuit case. The patch and stack sensors have similar
characteristics. In the following analysis, the performance of
the stack sensor will be stated. In order to monitor basic
information, such as the train running velocity, axle load and
location, a basic sensor element includes at least two stack
sensors, as shown in figure 21. Two sensors are installed at
location A and location B respectively. The distances between
the location and the coordinate origin are defined as LA and
LB respectively. Here, LA = L 0 = 400d + d 2, and
DLAB = LB - LA = 1000d . Figure 22 presents the sensor
performance. From figure 22(a), the running velocity can be
calculated through the formulation v = DLAB Dt. In addi-
tion, the location of the train can be determined by judging the
voltage signal source (location A or location B). In
figure 22(b), it can be seen that the voltage signal better
reflects the change in the axle load. Furthermore, there is a
corresponding relationship between the peak voltage and the
axle load, so the magnitude of the axle load can be determined
by analyzing the corresponding peak voltage.
6. Conclusion
Energy harvesting from railway systems using patch-type and
stack-type piezoelectric transducers has been studied. An
infinite Euler–Bernoulli beam on a Winkler foundation sub-
jected to moving multi-loads was adopted to describe the
dynamic behavior of railway track structure. The voltage and
electric power of piezoelectric transducers installed at the
bottom of a steel rail has been derived analytically. Com-
parisons with earlier works and experimental results validate
the reasonability of the present solutions. Numerical analysis
is presented to investigate the energy harvesting performance
Smart Mater. Struct. 24 (2015) 105017
of piezoelectric transducers. The results can be described as
follows:
(1) Patch-type and stack-type piezoelectric transducers can
both harvest more energy at high velocity and under
heavy axle loads. However, these two harvesters have a
different energy harvesting mechanism. Patch-type
transducers harvest energy from the longitudinal strain
of the bending rail using a d31 mode, but stack-type
transducers harvest energy from the vertical displace-
ment of the bending rail using a d33 mode. In addition,
patch-type transducers are bonded to the bottom of the
rail using epoxy, but stack-type transducers are installed
at the bottom of the rail with a piezoelectric stack device
and a magnetic base.
(2) For stack-type harvesters, the stiffness of the compres-
sion spring must be negligible compared to that of the
rail to ensure train operation safety. In these conditions,
the total energy increases with the increase of the
stiffness of the compression spring. In the actual
situation, two effective methods are appropriate for
increasing the stiffness of the compression spring. One is
to exchange it for a spring with a higher stiffness, another
is to combine multi-springs mechanically in parallel.
(3) A single piezoelectric patch or piezoelectric stack
device can harvest energy in mJ from track vibrations,
which is the same as the energy necessary for the
wireless sensor network node. In particular, when the
stiffness of the compression spring of the piezoelectric
stack device is increased to a larger value of 1 MN m-1,
the harvested energy can reach levels of up to 1000 mJ.
These results have proved that these harvesters can
serve as a power source for the wireless sensor network
node. Numerical results also show that these harvesters
can serve as sensors to monitor the basic information of
the train, such as the running velocity, the location and
the axle load. The research results demonstrate the
potential of piezoelectric patch and stack harvesters in
designing the self-powered wireless sensor networks
used in railway systems to ensure train operation safety.
Acknowledgments
This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foun-
dation of China (51472022, 51178040), and the Fundamental
Research Funds for the Central Universities (2014YJS107). The
authors greatly appreciate the reviewer’s comments, which have
helped to improve the quality of the paper.
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