Piezoelectric adventures: from energy harvesting and bioinspired robotics to programmable metamaterials and wireless data/power transfer

摘要

This talk will cover select examples and highlights from our recent and ongoing efforts on the dynamics of piezoelectric structures and systems, ranging from nonlinear energy harvesting and bio-inspired aquatic locomotion to elastic wave guiding and vibration attenuation via programmable metamaterials, and most recently wireless power and data transfer, as well as biomechanical applications. First, we will discuss the use of piezoelectric materials in conjunction with various nonlinear structures for frequency bandwidth enhancement in vibration energy harvesting. Inherent piezoelectric nonlinearities and their interaction with designed geometric nonlinearities will also be briefly addressed. Examples will be given on piezoelectric-based aeroelastic and hydroelastic energy harvesting in fluid-structure interaction problems. Elastic and acoustic wave energy harvesting by leveraging phononic crystal concepts will be discussed next with examples. Fiber-based flexible piezoelectric structures and their use in bio-inspired actuation and underwater locomotion will be summarized with brief examples. Our recent efforts on the use of an elastic waveguide with piezoelectric elements and an array of synthetic impedance circuits to enable digitally programmable piezoelectric metamaterials will be presented, with implications spanning from vibration attenuation to reciprocity breaking. An overview of our studies on wireless acoustic power transfer and ultrasonic data transmission using piezoelectric transducers will be followed by our ongoing collaborative efforts to enhance the accessible region of human brain by guiding leaky waves from the skull excited by piezoelectric transducers.