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Applied Sciences
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Vibration Power Harvesting and Its Applications
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Vibration Power Harvesting and Its Applications

A Special Issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417) belonging to the section "Energy Science and Technology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 February 2027 | Viewed by 2391

Editors

Dr. Raju Ahamed

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Curtin University, Perth, WA 6845, Australia
Interests: vibration power harvesting; ocean wave energy; magnetorheological (MR) materials; renewable energy
Dr. Kristoffer McKee

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Civil and Mechanical Engineering, Curtin University, Bentley, WA 6102, Australia
Interests: mechanical vibrations; linear systems and control; MEMS
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

With the increasing demand for sustainable and self-powered systems, vibration power harvesting has emerged as a promising solution for energy generation from ambient mechanical vibrations. This technology enables the development of self-sustaining electronic devices and sensors for a wide range of applications, from structural health monitoring to biomedical implants, wireless sensor networks, and industrial IoT.

This Special Issue aims to present novel advancements, experimental results, and emerging trends in vibration power harvesting technologies. We seek high-quality original research papers that address key challenges and propose innovative solutions in energy harvesting, transducer design, material optimization, and system integration for efficient vibration-to-electricity conversion.

Areas relevant to vibration power harvesting and its applications include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Piezoelectric, electromagnetic, and triboelectric energy harvesting;
  • Hybrid energy harvesting systems;
  • Nonlinear and broadband vibration energy harvesting;
  • MEMS-based micro-energy harvesters;
  • Optimization and control of energy harvesting systems;
  • Application-specific vibration harvesting for IoT, biomedical, and industrial sectors;
  • Energy storage and power management for self-powered systems;
  • Computational modelling and experimental validation of harvesters;
  • Structural integration and smart material-based harvesters;
  • Scalability, environmental impacts, and real-world deployment.

This Special Issue will provide a platform for researchers to showcase state-of-the-art advancements in vibration energy harvesting, bridging the gap between fundamental research, engineering innovations, and real-world applications.

We invite contributions from researchers and industry experts to advance the field of vibration power harvesting, ensuring its widespread adoption for sustainable and autonomous energy solutions.

Dr. Raju Ahamed
Dr. Kristoffer McKee
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Applied Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • vibration energy harvesting
  • piezoelectric, electromagnetic, and triboelectric harvesters
  • hybrid and nonlinear energy harvesting
  • smart materials for energy harvesting
  • MEMS and micro-scale harvesters
  • IoT and wireless sensor networks
  • power management and storage
  • structural health monitoring
  • self-powered systems
  • energy-efficient smart devices

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

21 pages, 14769 KB  
Article
A Predictive, Invertible Branched-Beam Model for Monolithic Dual-Resonance Slitted Piezoelectric Energy Harvesters
by Saad F. Almokmesh and Bashar B. Alzuwayer
Appl. Sci. 2026, 16(18), 8979; https://doi.org/10.3390/app16188979 - 10 Sep 2026
Viewed by 120
Abstract
A piezoelectric cantilever with a longitudinal slit splits one bending resonance into two closely spaced peaks. This is attractive for two-frequency sources. However, existing models fit, rather than predict, the resonances. We develop a predictive branched-beam model where the harvester consists of a [...] Read more.
A piezoelectric cantilever with a longitudinal slit splits one bending resonance into two closely spaced peaks. This is attractive for two-frequency sources. However, existing models fit, rather than predict, the resonances. We develop a predictive branched-beam model where the harvester consists of a full-width root splitting into two prongs with independent tip masses. The two resonances are the roots of a closed-form characteristic equation without fitted parameters, the anti-resonance is the transmission zero of the same branched model, and the formulation reduces to the classical cantilever in the no-slit limit. The second (anti-symmetric) mode is weakly tunable and is located near 45 Hz; the inversion leaves the first resonance free and pins the second effectively. It is predictive and inverted to size the tip masses. Three-dimensional finite-element analysis, which tracks 27.2 → 22.3 Hz (against a finite-element 28.9 → 23.5 Hz as the mass doubles) within about 6%, and the prong kinematics, confirm the tip-mass trend. The anti-resonance is called the charge cancellation effect and can be controlled by wiring the electrodes. For a two-line source (25/45 Hz), the design, tuned to the two lines, yields up to about 1.9× the power of a size-matched single-peak beam with two matched lines (1.6× when the second dominates, ≈1× for broadband), with the second peak being intrinsically smaller. A Monte-Carlo study shows a power coefficient of variation of about 72% with manufacturing and damping scatter, the two layer thicknesses accounting for about 83% of the variance, motivating post-fabrication tip-mass trimming. The model is rigorously validated against three-dimensional electromechanical finite-element analysis; experimental validation on a physical prototype is identified as the essential next step. This work transforms the slitted harvester into a designable monolithic dual-frequency device. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Vibration Power Harvesting and Its Applications)
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29 pages, 2571 KB  
Article
Finite Element Analysis of Hybrid Piezo- and Pyroelectric Energy Harvesting
by Michael Stefan Schwarz and Julia Mergheim
Appl. Sci. 2026, 16(15), 7552; https://doi.org/10.3390/app16157552 - 29 Jul 2026
Viewed by 414
Abstract
Pyropiezoelectric energy harvesting has the potential to utilize both environmental vibrations and time-dependent temperature changes to increase the amount of energy harvested compared to harvesting from only one of the two sources. So far, the investigation of such hybrid energy harvesting approaches has [...] Read more.
Pyropiezoelectric energy harvesting has the potential to utilize both environmental vibrations and time-dependent temperature changes to increase the amount of energy harvested compared to harvesting from only one of the two sources. So far, the investigation of such hybrid energy harvesting approaches has mainly been experimental. This makes it difficult to distinguish between their individual physical effects and complicates the optimization of such harvesters. This work presents a numerical framework for solving transient coupled pyropiezoelectric equations using the finite element method. The numerical method can be applied to simulate hybrid energy harvesters by taking into account external electrical circuits. The numerical simulations enable a targeted analysis of the contributions of mechanical, electrical and thermal effects to the harvested energy. This is illustrated by various numerical examples, such as a simple piezoelectric cuboid, a unimorph, a bimorph and a bimetallic beam with a piezoelectric patch. These are subjected to oscillating deformations and/or temperature changes. The simulations calculate the harvested energy resulting from the individual physical effects, depending on the excitation frequency, the external resistance, and the geometric configuration of the harvester. For a bimetallic beam with a piezoelectric patch, which is used as a low frequency hybrid energy harvester, a geometric optimization based on the simulation results showed a possible increase in the harvested energy of up to 386% under idealized circuit conditions compared to the initial design from the literature. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Vibration Power Harvesting and Its Applications)
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22 pages, 7043 KB  
Article
Energy Harvesting from Open-Channel Flows Through Piezoelectric Vortex-Induced Vibrations
by Giacomo Zanetti, Francesco Nascimben, Marco Carraro, Alberto Benato and Giovanna Cavazzini
Appl. Sci. 2026, 16(6), 2684; https://doi.org/10.3390/app16062684 - 11 Mar 2026
Viewed by 1030
Abstract
Efficient energy harvesting from open-channel flows offers a sustainable solution for powering distributed sensing systems in water infrastructure. This study investigates a piezoelectric wake-excited membrane vortex-induced vibration (VIV) energy harvester through a combined numerical and mechanical approach. The device features an upstream cylindrical [...] Read more.
Efficient energy harvesting from open-channel flows offers a sustainable solution for powering distributed sensing systems in water infrastructure. This study investigates a piezoelectric wake-excited membrane vortex-induced vibration (VIV) energy harvester through a combined numerical and mechanical approach. The device features an upstream cylindrical bluff body that generates a periodic vortex street, exciting a downstream flexible membrane equipped with surface-mounted piezoelectric patches. A one-way coupled CFD–FEM framework implemented in ANSYS was employed to assess the effects of membrane length, material stiffness, and flow conditions on hydrodynamic loading, structural deformation, and deformation power. Results show that membrane length mainly affects oscillation amplitude and force levels, whereas material stiffness has a stronger influence on membrane deformation and RMS mechanical power. Among the investigated materials, low-stiffness polyethylene yields the highest deformation power, while none of the analysed configurations reaches a full lock-in condition within the explored parameter range. Complementary mechanical analysis revealed that the stiffness of commercial piezoelectric patches significantly reduces local strain, thereby constraining the practically harvestable energy in the present baseline configuration. Spectral power density analysis identified the dominant shedding frequency and its harmonics, confirming that the flow response is governed by a coherent periodic excitation. These findings highlight key design trade-offs in wake-excited membrane harvesters and provide useful guidance for the future optimisation of self-powered hydraulic monitoring systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Vibration Power Harvesting and Its Applications)
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