Piezoelectric energy harvesting system for the vertical vibration of superconducting Maglev train

In order to scavenge wasted energy from the vertical vibration of the superconductor Maglev bogie system into usable energy, an energy harvesting system was designed and optimized by applying steel balls for piezoelectric material to effectively convert mechanical energy into electrical energy. Different size of steel balls were placed on a piezoelectric plate to amplify effects of piezoelectric material caused by the ambient vibration of superconducting Maglev train. An experiment was conducted to study the effects of the size of the balls (5.95, 7.14, 7.95, 9.55, 11.15, 12.71 or 15.89 mm), different total loads (68, 80, 100 g), vibration frequencies (11, 28 Hz), and the insertion of an LED. The following experimental results were found. First, the output voltages of the piezoelectric system increased when the steel ball diameter sizes increased until the optimum size determined by its geometric structure was reached. Secondly, as the vibration frequency increased, the output voltage also increased from millivolts to volts.