This study presents the analytical modeling of a novel, simple, practical, and environmentally-friendly piezoelectric thermal energy harvester which consists of two main components: a substance exposed to a fluctuating heat source (a solid elastic material or a pressurized gas) and a piezoelectric layer to generate electrical power. Thermal variations resulting from the fluctuating heat source within the substance are converted into pressure fluctuations in the piezoelectric layer, which generates useful electric power. Unlike the widely-used thermal energy harvesters that utilize thermoelectric materials, thermal power cycles, and pyroelectric generators, the proposed system utilizes piezoelectric materials that are common for their electromechanical conversion characteristics. Thermoelastic analysis is carried out to illustrate and evaluate the performance of the model. It is found that the generated power is affected by the heat source intensity and frequency, thermal losses, properties of the medium exposed to the thermal fluctuations, and the piezoelectric properties. It is also found that the model that uses a solid elastic material is more efficient than the one that uses a pressurized gas.

中文翻译：

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从温度波动中获取热能的新型压电系统

本研究介绍了一种新颖、简单、实用且环保的压电热能采集器的分析建模，该热能采集器由两个主要组件组成：暴露于波动热源（固体弹性材料或加压气体）的物质和压电层产生电能。由物质内波动的热源引起的热变化被转换为压电层中的压力波动，从而产生有用的电能。与使用热电材料、热力循环和热电发电机的广泛使用的热能收集器不同，所提出的系统使用的压电材料因其机电转换特性而很常见。进行热弹性分析以说明和评估模型的性能。研究发现，产生的功率受热源强度和频率、热损耗、暴露于热波动的介质特性和压电特性的影响。还发现使用固体弹性材料的模型比使用加压气体的模型更有效。