DEPARTMENT OF MECHATRONICS ENGINEERING

UNIVERSITY OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY, PESHAWAR

MtE-350L MECHANICAL VIBRATION LAB, 5th Semester

Student Name: Hasnat Saleem Reg No: 19PWMCT0703 Dated: 23th feb,2022

Lab Tittle: TO FIND THE EIGAN FREQUENCY OF RECTANGULAR UNIMORPH

PIEZOELECTRIC MEMBRANE USNIG COMSOL MULTIPHYSICS

Lab No: 13

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Course instructor: ENGR. WAHAD UR REHMAN

Title:
TO FIND THE EIGAN FREQUENCY OF RECTANGULAR
UNIMORPH PIEZOELECTRIC MEMBRANE USNIG COMSOL
MULTIPHYSICS

Objectives:
 To determine the eigen frequency of Rectangular unimorph piezoelectric
membrane using COMSOL Multiphysics.
 To study the eigen frequency response with and without proff mass.

Software and Tool:

 COMSOL
 Excel

Theory:
Introduction to Eigen Frequency:
Eigenfrequencies or natural frequencies are certain discrete frequencies at which a
system is prone to vibrate. Natural frequencies appear in many types of systems, for
example, as standing waves in a musical instrument or in an electrical RLC circuit. Here, we
mainly describe the study of eigenfrequencies in mechanical structures, but many of the
concepts are generally applicable.
When vibrating at a certain eigenfrequency, a structure deforms into a corresponding shape,
the eigenmode. An eigenfrequency analysis can only provide the shape of the mode, not the
amplitude of any physical vibration. The true size of the deformation can only be determined
if an actual excitation is known together with damping properties.
Determining the eigenfrequencies of a structure is an important part of structural engineering.
Some objectives of such an analysis are to:

 Ascertain that a periodic excitation does not cause a resonance that may lead to
excessive stresses or noise emission
 Ascertain that a periodic excitation causes a resonance in, for example, a piezoelectric
vibrator
 Check if a quasistatic analysis of a structure is appropriate based on the fact that all
natural frequencies are high when compared to the frequency content of the loading
 Investigate suitable choices of time steps or frequencies for a subsequent dynamic
response analysis
 Provide eigenmodes for a subsequent analysis based on mode superposition
 Provide insight into how design changes can affect a certain eigenfrequency by
studying its mode shape
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How Piezoelectricity Works to Make Crystals Conduct Electric Current
Piezo what? It sounds like a lot to take in, but it’s simple to understand. The word
piezoelectric originates from the Greek word piezein, which literally means to squeeze or
press. Instead of squeezing grapes to make wine, we’re squeezing crystals to make an electric
current! Piezoelectricity is found in a ton of everyday electronic devices, from quartz watches
to speakers and microphones. In a nutshell:
 Piezoelectricity is the process of using crystals to convert mechanical energy into
electrical energy, or vice versa.
Regular crystals are defined by their organized and repeating structure of atoms that are held
together by bonds, this is called a unit cell. Most crystals, such as iron have a symmetrical
unit cell, which makes them useless for piezoelectric purposes

Piezoelectric Material:
Piezoelectric ceramics and polymeric composites such as lead–zirconate–titanate (PZT) are
widely implemented in micro-actuators and transducers due to their high polarization density.
Macro-scale medical ultrasound devices are typically composed of piezoelectric bulk wave
resonators, which have high acoustic impedance and are capable of transmitting high acoustic
pressure waves. Although advanced 3-D probes for real-time scanning can be realized with
tiny 2-D arrays of piezoelectric elements, the labor-intensive manufacturing processes such as
polishing, bonding, dicing, and delicate integration limit practicality.

How Piezoelectricity Works

We have specific materials that are suited for piezoelectricity applications, but how exactly
does the process work? With the Piezoelectric Effect. The most unique trait of this effect is
that it works two ways. You can apply mechanical energy or electrical energy to the same
piezoelectric material and get an opposite result.
Applying mechanical energy to a crystal is called a direct piezoelectric effect and works like
this:

1. A piezoelectric crystal is placed between two metal plates. At this point the material is
in perfect balance and does not conduct an electric current.
2. Mechanical pressure is then applied to the material by the metal plates, which forces
the electric charges within the crystal out of balance. Excess negative and positive
charges appear on opposite sides of the crystal face.
3. The metal plate collects these charges, which can be used to produce a voltage and
send an electrical current through a circuit.

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 Figure 13. 1 Piezoelectric Effect

That’s it, a simple application of mechanical pressure, the squeezing of a crystal and suddenly
you have an electric current. You can also do the opposite, applying an electrical signal to a
material as an inverse piezoelectric effect. It works like this:

1. In the same situation as the example above, we have a piezoelectric crystal placed
between two metal plates. The crystal’s structure is in perfect balance.
2. Electrical energy is then applied to the crystal, which shrinks and expands the
crystal’s structure.
3. As the crystal’s structure expands and contracts, it converts the received electrical
energy and releases mechanical energy in the form of a sound wave.

Figure 13. 2 Piezoelectric Effect

The inverse piezoelectric effect is used in a variety of applications. Take a speaker for
example, which applies a voltage to a piezoelectric ceramic, causing the material to vibrate
the air as sound waves.

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Simulation:
Steps:
1. Setting up Model Environment:
2. Select model wizard

Graph 13.3 Setting Environment

3. Select Space Dimension to 3D

Graph 13.4 Setting Space

4. Now Add Solid mechanics.

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Graph 13.5 Adding Mechanics

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5. Select study to Eigen Frequency

Graph 13.6 Setting Study

6. Now to make cantilever beam. Select Geometry > Block > Dimension
Dimensions

 Substrate layer, D = 27mm

 Substrate layer thickness, t = 0.23mm
 PZT layer, D = 20mm
 PZT layer thickness, t = 0.22mm
 Load = 10N
 Proof mass =5x0.22mm.

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 7. Add Materials Next (Structural Steel).

Graph 13.8 Adding Material

8. Creating Mesh:

Figure 13.9 Creating Mesh

9. Run simulation:
After doing every step now it’s time to fin simulation of stationary analysis and compute the solution,
so we can get out final view of our model that we created in COMSOL Multiphysics

Figure 13.10: Run simulation

8. View results:

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After we simulate our model we will get the results which shows us the maximum deflection and we
successfully created our Cantilever beam o COMSOL Multiphysics.

Figure 13.11: View results

Table of parameters:
Table 13.1 Table for Parameters
parameters Substrate layer Piezoelectric Proof mass
material

Length 30 20 5

Width 20 12 5

Thickness 0.5 0.3 1

Material brass Pzt(0.5H) Structural steel

Young modulus 117GPa 66 //

Poisson ratio 0.3 0.3 0.5

Eigen frequency:-

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 Table 13.2 Table for Eigen Frequency

Serial number Eigen frequency

1 0.6668

2 0.86249

3 0.86529

4 1.0579

5 1.1525

6 1.1621

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Beam Length Vs Eigen Frequencies:

The Volume vs Eigen frequency is as follow:

Table 13.3: Volume Vs Eigen Frequencies

Volume (m) f1 f2 f3 f4 f5

1.25E-08 7013 10814 17242 18392 21673

1.75E-08 6947.3 10791 17156 18465 21992

2.25E-08 6855.8 10758 17039 18461 22237

2.75E-08 6758.3 10717 16906 18421 22422

3.25E-08 6659.6 10670 16754 18373 22563

3.75E-08 6559.7 10615 16580 18314 22669

Graph:

Volume Vs Eigen Frequency

Mode 1 Mode 2 Mode 3 Mode 4 Mode 5
25000

20000
Eigen Frequency

15000

10000

5000

0
0.0000125 0.0000175 0.0000225 0.0000275 0.0000325 0.0000375
Volume

Graph 13.1: Volume Vs Eigen Frequencies

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Mass Vs Eigen Frequencies:

Table 13.4: Density of Mass Vs Eigen Frequencies

Mass f1 f2 f3 f4 f5

125000 7671.7 12293 19373 21579 26610

150000 7220.1 11617 18240 20244 26007

175000 6839.8 11042 17284 19130 23660

200000 6513.8 10544 16464 18181 22507

225000 6230.4 10109 15751 17360 21507

250000 5981 9722.5 15122 16641 20629

Graph:

Density of Mass Vs Eigen

35000
Frequency
30000 Mode 1 Mode 2 Mode 3
Mode 4 Mode 5 Mode 6
25000
Eigen Frequecy

20000

15000

10000

5000

0
Density

Graph 13.2: Density of Mass Vs Eigen Frequencies

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Width of Proof Mass Vs Eigen Frequencies:

Table 13.5: Width of Proof Mass Vs Eigen Frequencies

Width of f1 f2 f3 f4 f5
Proof Mass

5 3053.9 6010.2 6047.4 33547 34731

6 3236.7 6163.3 6185.3 39458 40006

7 3337.6 6150.2 6196.8 43271 43563

8 3526.4 6288.7 6331.2 43244 43324

9 3813.3 6582.5 6626.7 42368 42391

Graph:

Width of Proof Mass Vs Eigen

Frequency
Series1 Series2 Series3 Series4 Series5
250000

200000
Eigen Frequency

150000

100000

50000

0
f1 f2 f3 f4 f5
Width

Graph 13.3: Width of Proof Mass Vs Eigen Frequencies

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Thickness Vs Eigen frequencies:
Table 13.6: Thickness Vs Eigen Frequencies

Thickness f1 f2 f3 f4 f5
1 2738 5699.4 5701.8 26557 27326

1.1 2573.6 5281.5 5285.1 22835 23342

1.2 2532.1 5182.6 5183.5 21837 22264

1.3 2692.4 5606.4 5608.6 26480 27294

1.4 2680.4 5506.2 5545.7 26290 27190

1.5 2549.2 5467.4 5390.4 26000 26432

1.6 2437.4 5323.5 5278.9 25201 25987

1.7 2367.8 5267.2 5134.5 24341 24876

1.8 2234.3 5145.5 5012.4 23456 23763

1.9 2156.7 4968.7 4943.1 22678 22945

2 2045.9 4834.9 4801.9 21122 21794

Graph:

Thickness Vs Eigen Frequency

80000 f1 f2 f3 f4 f5
70000
60000
Eigen Frequency

50000
40000
30000
20000
10000
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Thickness

Graph 13.4: Thickness Vs Eigen frequencies

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Conclusion:

This lab session was about the Eigen frequency theory in detail. We also studied about the
Eigen frequency of rectangular piezoelectric plate and its analytical modeling. We analyzed
the rectangular piezoelectric plate in COMSOL multi-physics and we find the Eigen
frequencies for different mode. In this lab, we analyzed factors affecting on the Eigen
frequency of rectangular piezoelectric plate.

References:

[1]. [Online]. Available: https://theconstructor.org/structural-engg/cantilever-beams/167474/ .

[2]. [Online]. Available: https://www.comsol.com/multiphysics/piezoelectric-effect?

parent=electromechanical-effects-0182-172-142.

[3]. [Online]. Available: https://www.explainthatstuff.com/piezoelectricity.html.

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