Self-Powered Bridge Monitoring via Tri-Stable Piezoelectric Harvesters under Moving Traffic Excitation

Self-Powered Bridge Monitoring via Tri-Stable Piezoelectric Harvesters under Moving Traffic Excitation | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Self-Powered Bridge Monitoring via Tri-Stable Piezoelectric Harvesters under Moving Traffic Excitation Amin Moslemi, Maria Rashidi, Ali Matin Nazar, Pejman Sharafi, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8635015/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This study examines the electromechanical response of a tri-stable piezoelectric cantilever energy harvester mounted on a simply supported beam under moving vehicle loads, representative of bridge health monitoring conditions. The tri-stable configuration is achieved through magnetic coupling, enabling broader potential wells for enhanced vibration energy harvesting compared to traditional linear or bi-stable systems. A comprehensive mathematical model is developed that incorporates Euler-Bernoulli beam theory, Galerkin discretization, and the harmonic balance method for analytical solutions. This is verified against numerical simulations, demonstrating the convergence between the analytical and numerical outcomes. The influence of key parameters such as moving mass, velocity, length, and density is analyzed through time responses, phase portraits, Poincaré maps, wavelet transforms, frequency spectra, and RMS voltage outputs. Results demonstrate that the tri-stable harvester outperforms bi-stable counterparts at higher velocities, achieving up to 30% higher cumulative power and broader bandwidth due to efficient inter-well transitions. However, bi-stable systems show advantages at lower velocities. These findings provide practical design guidelines for self-powered wireless sensor networks in intelligent transportation systems, identifying velocity-dependent operational regimes that maximize energy harvesting efficiency under realistic traffic-induced excitations. Energy Harvester Piezoelectric Cantilever Beam Tri-stable Configuration Magnetic force Moving Mass Bridge Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8635015","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":576689270,"identity":"134957e0-7939-45df-a982-9168385d550f","order_by":0,"name":"Amin Moslemi","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Western Sydney University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Amin","middleName":"","lastName":"Moslemi","suffix":""},{"id":576689271,"identity":"4b84fe7c-b9f7-4484-b63d-5e2965da98c0","order_by":1,"name":"Maria Rashidi","email":"data:image/png;base64,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","orcid":"","institution":"Western Sydney University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Maria","middleName":"","lastName":"Rashidi","suffix":""},{"id":576689272,"identity":"b008d7fc-fc90-4c8e-a0f5-917fb16bb799","order_by":2,"name":"Ali Matin Nazar","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Western Sydney University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ali","middleName":"Matin","lastName":"Nazar","suffix":""},{"id":576689273,"identity":"18ad29f2-4cfa-4c43-b02d-bebc3c315bd7","order_by":3,"name":"Pejman Sharafi","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Western Sydney University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Pejman","middleName":"","lastName":"Sharafi","suffix":""},{"id":576689278,"identity":"ca8624c2-c4f2-45ec-8a5d-fd5cc08ba11f","order_by":4,"name":"Behruz Bozorg","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Lund University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Behruz","middleName":"","lastName":"Bozorg","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-01-19 04:38:29","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8635015/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8635015/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":103886154,"identity":"20a34516-2604-412f-8f15-bbdc82dc7cb2","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-03-04 06:57:26","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":2148974,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"ManuscriptEHTristable.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8635015/v1_covered_662edb09-cdb8-4e95-b03f-fbcf7a1d7865.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Self-Powered Bridge Monitoring via Tri-Stable Piezoelectric Harvesters under Moving Traffic Excitation","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Energy Harvester, Piezoelectric Cantilever Beam, Tri-stable Configuration, Magnetic force, Moving Mass, Bridge","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8635015/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8635015/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThis study examines the electromechanical response of a tri-stable piezoelectric cantilever energy harvester mounted on a simply supported beam under moving vehicle loads, representative of bridge health monitoring conditions. The tri-stable configuration is achieved through magnetic coupling, enabling broader potential wells for enhanced vibration energy harvesting compared to traditional linear or bi-stable systems. A comprehensive mathematical model is developed that incorporates Euler-Bernoulli beam theory, Galerkin discretization, and the harmonic balance method for analytical solutions. This is verified against numerical simulations, demonstrating the convergence between the analytical and numerical outcomes. The influence of key parameters such as moving mass, velocity, length, and density is analyzed through time responses, phase portraits, Poincar\u0026eacute; maps, wavelet transforms, frequency spectra, and RMS voltage outputs. Results demonstrate that the tri-stable harvester outperforms bi-stable counterparts at higher velocities, achieving up to 30% higher cumulative power and broader bandwidth due to efficient inter-well transitions. 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