A Critical Review of MEMS Based Vibration

Energy Harvesting and Simulation of Piezoelectric

Microgenerator
K. M. Vinayaka Swamy, Goudara Ravi Prakash, B. G. Sheeparamatti*
Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering
Basaveshwar Engineering College, Bagalkot-587102,Karnataka, INDIA.
*

Corresponding author:sheepar@yahoo.com

Abstract A MEMS energy harvesting device that converts

ambient energy to electrical energy has attracted a lot of
attention in commercial sectors. Due to the environmental
consciousness, energy harvesting devices or so called micro
generators promise a cleaner environment by avoiding the usage
of batteries. MEMS technology is reported to generate electricity
based on piezoelectric, electromagnetic, electrostatic, and hybrid
mechanisms. Piezoelectric energy harvesters are the most
promising solution because they can efficiently convert
mechanical strain to electrical charge without any additional
power. A MEMS based energy harvesting device is designed,
modeled and simulated to convert vibrations in to electrical
energy via piezoelectric effect. The length, width of cantilever are
27mm x 100mm and thickness of substrate and piezoelectric layer
is 200m and 60 m respectively.This Cantilever beam resonates
at a frequency of 170 Hz and an output voltage obtained is 1.65
V. The proposed device is found to be suitable for vibration
energy harvesting and can be used as potential micro-generator.

II.

SOURCES OF ENERGY HARVESTING

The classification of energy harvesting can be organized on

the basis of the form of energy they use to scavenge the power.
For example piezoelectric harvesting devices scavenge
mechanical energy and convert it into usable electrical energy.
The various sources for energy harvesting are wind turbines,
photovoltaic cells, thermoelectric generators and mechanical
vibration
devices
such
as
piezoelectric
devices,
electromagnetic devices [1, 4]. Figure 1 shows some of the
harvesting methods with their power generation capability [1].

Continuous Power / cm3 vs. Life Several Energy Sources

1000
Lithium

100

I. INTRODUCTION
In recent years, a great effort has been devoted to the study of
self-powered electronics by using renewable power sources or
energy scavengers to replace traditional batteries. Therefore,
energy harvesting technique which is used to collect and
convert ambient energy into usable electrical power has been
considered as a promising solution and has attracted noticeable
research interests. Among many energy sources, vibration
energy is ubiquitous in numerous applications ranging from
common household devices, transportation tools, and industry
machines to human motions. In addition, vibration-based
energy harvesters (EHs) based on MEMS technology can be
used to generate electricity based on piezoelectric,
electromagnetic, electrostatic, and hybrid mechanisms.
Piezoelectric EHs convert mechanical strain into voltage
output, i.e., electric field across the piezoelectric layer, based
on the piezoelectric effect. Because of the advantages of
simple configuration and high conversion efficiency, they
have received much attention. Some sources of ambient
energy are heat and mechanical vibrations. Energy from
mechanical vibration can also be harvested by the use of one
of the following i) piezoelectric (piezoelectric material
converts from strain into electrical energy), ii) electromagnetic
(in which magnet is attached to the mass to induce a current in
a coil as it moves) or iii) electrostatic (in which a charge on the
mass induces a voltage on a capacitor as it moves).

Alkaline

microWatts

Key Words: MEMS, energy harvesting, piezoelectric

Solar

Vibrations

10
Zinc air

Lithium rechargeable

NiMH

0
0

0.5

1.5

Years

2.5

3.5

4.5

Figure 1: Energy Harvesting Sources [1]

The general properties to be considered to characterize a

portable energy supplier are described by Fry, et al. [5].The
list includes electrical properties such as power density,
maximum voltage and current; physical properties such as the
size, shape and weight; environmental properties such as water
resistance and operating temperature range; as well as
operational and maintenance properties. Sufficient care should
be taken while using the energy harvesters in the embedded
systems to improve the performance and lifetime of the
system.
III.

AMBIENT VIBRATION SOURCES AND MEMS HARVESTERS

In order to better understand the characteristics of low-level

ambient vibrations, vibrations measurements for a variety of
everyday objects were taken. The purpose of the

measurements was to get a quantitative indication of the

frequency range and magnitude of vibrations from these
sources. 14 conditions of eight separate sources were analyzed
[6].In total, for the frequency range of 101,000 Hz.
Interpretation schemes, utilizing a simple but effective 1-D
dynamic model for optimal harvesting point selection, were
developed and it was found that macro and micro-systems
require separate schemes since the dominating damping
mechanisms for these systems vary. This is in contrast to
previous findings in the literature where the mechanisms of the
damping were ignored and/or assumed independent of
frequency. For micro devices, the operating environment will
further influence the selection of a vibration peak to target.
Lastly, ambient vibration sources generally exhibit multiple
peaks of significant power, often at much higher frequencies.
This observation motivates an investigation of the effect of
other device resonance modes (e.g., higher beam modes) on
the power generation of the system in the sections to follow.
IV. SURVEY OF LOW-LEVEL AMBIENT SOURCES
The interpretation scheme for a MEMS Piezoelectric Vibration
Energy Harvester device operated [6] in atmospheric
2
conditions, |Pe |max W B is used to identify three acceleration
peaks for each source that are listed in Table 1. The first peak has
the maximum power content (e.g., the highest acceleration
squared) and is referred to as the Highest Power Peak, or HPP.
The Reference Peak, RP, is the highest power peak in the
accessible region (i.e., above 100 Hz). The Alternate Peak,
AP, is a secondary peak in the accessible region. For some of the
sources, the HPP and the RP are the same. From Table 1 it can
be seen that the ranges and levels of ambient vibrations differ
greatly: for HPP, the levels varied from 103 m/s2 to around
4 m/s2 . However, not all these peaks are accessible (e.g., above
100 Hz), and RP values range from 104 m/s2 to 4 m/s2.
These results show good agreement with published ambient
vibration data, e.g. [2]. Upon comparing RP and AP values, two
important observations can be made. Firstly, in 7 of the 14 cases
investigated, an AP was identified at a lower frequency than the
RP [6]. The significance of this becomes clear when the device is
operated in vacuum. As is illustrated in Fig. 5, the constant
power lines for a device operated in vacuum drop to zero as the
frequency decreases. This is because the power generated is
inversely proportional to the vibration frequency. From the
example it is clear that the AP will have the same power content
as the RP. If the operating environment is vacuum, the optimal
harvesting point for a MEMS-scale beam harvester will not
correspond to the highest vibration level peak (RP as defined
here), but will be at a lower level and frequency. A reference
vibration of W B = 4.2 m/s2 at 150 Hz is used for the
preliminary design of a low-level MPVEH device in a later
section (vibrations measured on a microwave oven side panel).
The second observation is that some sources exhibit peaks with
comparable power content at much higher frequencies. See for
example source 12 (car hood at 3000 rpm) in Table 1. The
higher frequency peak can excite a second or third resonance
mode of the structure and strain cancellation (and therefore
power loss) in the harvester device is possible. The example
reference peak has 0.257 m/s2 acceleration at 148 Hz, and an

alternate peak at 881 Hz with an acceleration of 0.102 m/s2 .

This finding prompted an investigation into the effect of higher
frequency modes of the beam structure when aligned to an
alternate peak of the source vibration.
TABLE .I Ambient vibration source[6].

Source

A/C duct center (Low

setting)
A/C duct side (High
setting)
A/C duct center (Low
setting)
Computer side panel
Microwave oven top
Microwave oven side
Office desk
Bridge railing
Parking meter
(Perpendicular to street)
Parking meter (Parallel
to street)
Car hood750 rpm
Car hood3000 rpm
Medium tree
Small tree

Highest Power
Peak (HPP)
Acc
Freq
[m/s2] [Hz]
0.0328 15.7

Reference Peak
(RP)
Acc
Freq
[m/s2]
[Hz]
0.0254
171.9

0.0990

53.8

0.0159

170.6

0.0398

55.0

0.0366

173.1

0.0402
1.11
4.21
0.0879
0.0215
0.0327

276.3
120.0
148.1
120.0
171.3
13.8

0.0402
1.11
4.21
0.0879
0.0215
0.00172

276.3
120.0
148.1
120.0
171.3
120.0

0.0355

13.8

0.00207

923.8

0.0143
0.257
0.000229
0.000465

148.8
147.5
115.3
293.1

0.0744 35.6
0.257
147.5
0.000985 16.3
0.003
30.0

As an example, a simple cantilever beam configuration was

created with the first resonance frequency at 140 Hz and the
second resonance frequency at 875 Hz. Thus, with the
variability of vibration sources, it is possible for the source
alternate peak and the second resonance peak of the beam to
align. To investigate strain cancellation for this simple
cantilever, a modal analysis of the device with two input
vibration components was conducted [6]. The first component
was aligned to the first resonance of the device (as per design),
and the second component coincided with the second
resonance of the beam. The vibration level of the second
frequency component was varied to analyze the effect on the
developed strain. Please refer to Figure 2 for maximum axial
strain vs. the beam length at maximum tip displacement
under these assumptions. The power of the second or
alternate input peak is zero, equal to, and half the power of
the reference peak, respectively. The strain developed over
the first region of the beam (near the base) increases with the
additional excitation, whereas the strain is decreased towards
the tip. Assuming that the power scales linearly with the
strain, it is necessary to look at the total area under the strain
curve.
Since the second mode causes the total area to decrease, the
total power will decrease too, assuming that the electrodes
cover the whole surface. Thus, it is possible to identify an
optimal electrode length in the region where the strain is
increased, but that is not affected by the cancellation of
strain, for this simple case. Furthermore, the second mode

contributes by increasing the maximum developed strain at the

base of the beam, affecting the static failure design of such
devices. For the purpose of the analysis, it is assumed that
the mode deflections due to the two inputs are in phase.
Should this not be the case, a different final strain distribution
will be obtained, but the important conclusion that strain
cancellation is possible due to the influence of multiple input
vibration components.

oxide (ZnO). The sinusoidal acceleration is given as input to

piezoelectric layer to induce a strain. The model development
and analysis is done using COMSOL Multiphysics.

Figure.4 Piezoelectric generator with length, width of cantilever is

27mm x 3mm .and thickness of substrate and piezo layer is 200m and
60 m in COMSOL 3.5a

Piezoelectric layer.

platinum cantilever.

Figure.5 The layered design of piezoelectric generator

Figure 2. Strain distribution for a beam excited by multiple input vibration
components, illustrating net power loss.

VI. SOURCE OF VIBRATION

An equivalent vibration source of 2.5ms2 of wind
experienced on 2ft*3ft window is considered.[8]

F=ma
rho=

m
v

(1)

V=length*width*thickness
Figure. 3 The piezo electric generator showing the strain developed and
voltages extraction surfaces

V.

MODELING IN COMSOL

A MEMS based energy harvesting device is modeled to

convert vibration energy to electrical energy by piezoelectric
effect. The thickness, length and width of cantilever are varied
to get maximum displacement and voltage. The cantilever is
made of platinum with dimensions 27mm3mm200m. The
piezoelectric layer of thickness 60 m was chosen [7] & [9].
Device Structure
A 3D geometry is considered for the simulations. The
piezoelectric converter has a unimorph cantilever shape, as
shown in Figure. 2 The device is made by a platinum
cantilever with a piezoelectric layer ZnO on the top of
platinum substrate.
In this design, (as shown in figure 4), a piezoelectric material
is used to scavenge energy from natural resources like
radioactive source[9],and ambient vibrations. COMSOL
Multiphysics is used to model and simulate a micro cantilever
with a layer of piezomaterial. The Figure.5 shows designed
model of vibration based energy harvesting device using
piezoelectric transducer. Piezoelectric material used is zinc

Where V is volume of piezoelectric material, V=0.162 m3

is selected such that maximum voltage is observed across the
piezoelectric material, m is mass of piezoelectric material,
a is acceleration 2.5ms2, length, width, thickness of
piezoelectri material.
VII.

MESHING

The mesh is created using the mapped mesh tool dividing

the length of the energy harvester into 20 elements spaced
exponentially with an element ratio equal to 10(see figure
6). The area near the clamp experience maximum stress
and hence more points are considered in that region. Fine
mesh structure near the clamped end and wider mesh near
the free end reduces the number of degree of freedom and
thereby total simulation time. The mesh is composed of
320 quad elements for 17344 degrees of freedom. Each
material layer is divided in 2 linearly spaced elements
along the thickness and 4 linearly spaced elements along
width. A swept mesh is considered for the meshing
interior region of the structure keeping opposite surfaces
of each layer as source face and target face.

0.17m3, 12 such cantilevers occupying a volume of

2.04m3 to generate 19.5V for laptop batteries.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Authors acknowledge the support of NPMASS(National
program on micro and smart systems) of Govt of India
andIISC Bangalore and Suyog N Jagtap for helpful
suggestions in carry out this simulation work .
REFERENCES
Figure.6 Piezoelectric generator after mapped meshing in COMSOL
3.5a.

VIII.

SIMULATION RESULTS

The displacement of the free tip of the piezoelectric converter,

the open circuit voltage and the generated charge collected on
the electrodes were computed. The obtained tip displacement
is shown in Figure 7. And the frequency response analysis is
(frequency vs electric potential) is shown in figure.8.

[1]. Atwood B, Warneke B and Pister K S J, Smart Dust

mote forerunners, Proceedings of 14th Annual
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Sytsems, 2001, pp 357360.

[2] S. Roundy, P.K. Wright, and J. Rabaey, Computer

Communications 26(11), 1131 (2003).
[3] S. Roundy, P. K. Wright, and K. S. J. Pister, 2002
ASME International Mechanical Engineering
Congress and Exposition, Nov 1722 2002, New
Orleans, LO, United States (2002).
[4] Park G, Farrar C R, Todd M D, Hodgkiss W and Rosing
T,Energy Harvesting for Structural Health Monitoring
Sensor Networks, Technical Report, Los Alamos National
Laboratories, LA, February 2007.
[5] Fry D N, Holcomb D E, Munro J K, Oakes L C, and
Maston M J, Compact Portable Electric Power Sources,
Report, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ORNL/TM-13360,
1997.

Figure.7 Piezoelectric generator showing deflection due to the equivalent

vibration acceleration applied 2.5 ms2 in COMSOL 3.5a

[6] Noel E. duToit,1 Brian L. Wardle,1, and SangGook Kim2 Design Considerations for MEMS-Scale
Piezoelectric
Mechanical
Vibration
Energy
Harvesters, ,Integrated Ferroelectrics, 71: 121160,
2005.
[7] Thickness Optimization of a Piezoelectric Converter
for Energy Harvesting. Excerpt from the Proceedings
of the COMSOL Conference 2009 Milan.

Figure.8 Graph showing maximum voltage 1.65V at resonant frequency

of 170Hz. (Frequency response).

IX.

CONCLUSION

A piezoelectric cantilever actuated by equivalent

acceleration of vibration has been modeled and simulated.
The vibration acceleration source enables the cantilever to
be used as a piezoelectric transducer for long run
applications. The developed and simulated model is
capable of generating 1.65 V and occupying volume of

[8]

Geometry Optimization of a MEMS-based

EnergyHarvesting Device Proceeding of the 2011
IEEE Students' Technology Symposium
14-16 January, 2011, IIT Kharagpur.

[9]

Simulation of Nuclear Radiation Based Energy

Harvesting Device using Piezoelectric Transducer.
Excerpt Proceedings of the COMSOL Conference
2011Bangalore.