A direct sensitivity analysis of a piezoelectric energy harvester

The paper is dedicated to a direct sensitivity analysis of a generic piezoelectric energy harvester working in a fluid flow. The aim of the analysis is to obtain a better knowledge about such kind of devices. The energy harvester has a beam-type structure which incorporates a piezo-active material. Under the action of the fluid flow induced forces the structure performs random vibrations. Due to the random and/or frequency varying nature of the vibrations, the mechanical system must be nonlinear and this is the key of system. The sensitivity of the response with respect to the variations of some of the parameters is examined by direct calculations.