Modares Mechanical Engineering

Modares Mechanical Engineering

Design and Optimization of a Pendulum Driven Piezoelectric Energy Harvester Embedded in Wheel Spokes for Autonomous Tire Sensor Systems

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Javad Farjadi Bajestani
Mohammad Hossein Abolbashari
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran
10.48311/mme.2026.119397.82983
Abstract
Energy harvesting technologies aim to recover wasted mechanical energy and are typically categorized into piezoelectric, electromagnetic, and electrostatic mechanisms. Among these, piezoelectric harvesters are particularly appealing due to their structural simplicity, scalability, and high energy density. This study presents a novel vibration-based piezoelectric energy harvesting system integrated within the spokes of a vehicle wheel to continuously supply power for autonomous tire sensor systems. The design employs a pendulum embedded inside each spoke that oscillates during wheel rotation and impacts plates on both sides, thereby exciting the piezoelectric layers mounted on them and converting vibrational energy into electrical output. Eliminating the use of adhesives and the placement of piezoelectric plates significantly improve structural integrity, durability, and operational safety compared to conventional strain based configurations mounted on the tire’s inner liner. The governing equations were solved and the results were validated against finite element analysis performed in COMSOL Multiphysics. The proposed configuration achieves average output power levels exceeding those of previously reported wheel-based designs by factors ranging from 2 to 20,000 while maintaining stable performance within the 20–120 km/h speed range required for Tire Pressure Monitoring System applications. Genetic algorithm–based optimization further enhanced the performance by 82.27%, confirming the system’s feasibility for next-generation intelligent tire technologies.
Keywords
Energy harvesting
piezoelectric impact harvester
pendulum-based mechanism
wheel spoke integration
autonomous tire pressure monitoring
Subjects
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Modares Mechanical Engineering
Volume 26, Issue 10
October 2026
Pages 769-779