Novel impact-based peak-energy locking piezoelectric generators for munitions

Presented here is an innovative class of piezoelectric-based generators for application in gun-fired munitions and other similar devices. The generators are designed to produce electrical energy as a result of the firing acceleration with enough output to power certain on-board electronic circuitry, such as lowpower fuzing. In this class of piezoelectric-based generators, a novel mechanism is provided with which the strain applied to the piezoelectric stack can be maintained at its in-firing peak value throughout the flight of the projectile. As a result, the generated charge can be harvested efficiently during a significantly longer period of time. In addition, in some munitions applications this can totally eliminate the need for storing the generated electrical energy in another storage medium. This class of impact-based piezoelectric generator devices is intrinsically robust in design which makes it suitable for high-G applications. Also, since the present devices produce energy due to the firing acceleration, a high degree of safety is guaranteed because the electronics are not powered until the projectile is fired. A basic proof-of-concept design and a deployable prototype concept are presented which will demonstrate the scalability of the present devices as well as their survivability in high-G environments.