Structural design and simulation analysis of a micro-silicon-based piezoelectric cantilever generator

Abstract

The objective of this article is to simulate a piezoelectric cantilever beam generator with power harvesting from ambient vibration energy. This power device will act as the electrical energy supply of a micro-system, which can be used in inaccessible situations, to eliminate dependence on batteries. Optimization of the micro-silicon-based piezoelectric cantilever parameters was achieved by determining the most advantageous dimensions for the piezoelectric generator, while varying the beam length, width, thickness, proof mass weight and so on. The program also made sure that the piezoelectric cantilever beam structure’s natural frequency is equal to the desired input frequency from the ambient exciting vibration. In addition, a prototype miniature generator was fabricated with bulk silicon combined with etching.

Keywords

Micro-generator vibration energy harvesting wireless sensor

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Rabaey

J M

Ammer

Karalar

. PicoRadios for wireless sensor networks: the next challenge in ultra-low power design. In: Solid-State Circuits Conference, Florence, Italy, 24–26 September 2002, pp.121–125. New York: IEEE.

Rabaey

Ammer

da Silva

Jr . PicoRadio supports ad hoc ultra-low power wireless networking. Computer2000; 33(7): 42–48.

Paradiso

Starner

. Energy scavenging for mobile and wireless electronics. IEEE Pervas Comput2005; 4: 18–27.

Chalasani

Conrad

J M

. A survey of energy harvesting sources for embedded systems. In: Southeastcon, 2008. IEEE, Huntsville, AL, USA, 3–6 April 2008, pp.442–447. New York: IEEE.

Roundy

Wright

Rabaey

. A study of low level vibrations as a power source for wireless sensor nodes. Comput Commun2003; 26: 1131–1144.

Harb

. Energy harvesting: state-of-the-art. Renew Energ2011; 36(10): 2641–2654.

Arroyo

Badel

Formosa

. Comparison of electromagnetic and piezoelectric vibration energy harvesters: model and experiments. Sensor Actuat A: Phys2012; 183: 148–156.

Polla

Francis

. Processing and characterization of piezoelectric materials and integration into microelectromechanical systems. Annu Rev Mater Sci1998; 28(1): 563–597.