Statistical Analysis of Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting in the Bridge Systems

One of the new methods for electrical powering of the bridge health monitoring systems is applying energy harvesting systems using bridge vibration. In this method, the piezoelectric material is employed for converting mechanical energy into electrical energy. The advantage of this method is based on not implementing the battery charging system. In previous research, some studies have been done on the energy harvesting from vibration of bridges, however, research on statistical analysis of produced power with considering uncertain vehicle type and specifications has not been considered. Therefore in this paper, after modelling the bridge-vehicle-piezoelectric system with complete vehicles uncertainties, the statistical analysis of produced voltage are carried out by Monte-Carlo simulation.