ABSTRACT
The integration of remote network monitoring and energy harvesting systems is a growing field with potentially new and important applications for the structural health monitoring of civil engineering infrastructures. Among the different sources, the possibility of energy harvesting from pedestrian-induced vibrations in footbridges is a new field in this regard. For this purpose, a feasibility study has been performed herein. In this study, the power generated by different harvesters, installed on a vibrating steel footbridge, has been compared under different service conditions. Thus, the main objectives of this study are: (i) to establish the service conditions which allow the energy harvesting from pedestrian-induced vibrations without compromising the comfort level of the footbridge; (ii) to assess the performance of different harvesters when they are used for this purpose; and (iii) to assess the performance of the most commonly used piezoelectric materials when they are used to manufacture the mentioned devices.
