Piezoelectric Cantilever Prototype for Energy

Harvesting in Computing Applications

Levent Beker

Haluk Klah

Ali Muhtarolu

Micro and Nanotechnology

Graduate Program
Middle East Technical University
Ankara, Turkey
[email protected]

METU-MEMS Center
Middle East Technical University
Ankara, Turkey

METU NCC REDAR

Middle East Technical University
Northern Cyprus Campus
Guzelyurt, Mersin 10 Turkey

Abstract This paper presents a piezoelectric energy harvester

(PEH) to convert vibrations to electrical power. A unimorph
cantilever beam is used to generate voltage on piezoelectric
material bonded close to the anchor of the cantilever beam. A
4.85 x 1 x 0.04 cm structural layer with piezoelectric material
yields peak-to-peak voltage of 64 V at the resonance frequency of
the structure. The empirically confirmed maximum power output
is close to 0.5 mW. The results from validation data on the
observed structure has been correlated to the simulations in finite
element method (FEM) program using piezoelectric analysis
tools.
Keywords: Energy harvesting; piezoelectric conversion; finite
element method; piezoelectric model

I.

INTRODUCTION

Advances in integrated circuit (IC) manufacturing, low

power circuit design and networking techniques have reduced
the power requirements of electronic devices in the order of
microwatts. Due to the low energy requirement of electronic
devices, energy harvesting from vibrations emerges as a
possible candidate. Among three possible vibration energy
conversion mechanisms, namely electromagnetic, electrostatic
and piezoelectric, converting vibrations to electrical power
using piezoelectric conversion principle received greatest
attention within the last decade [1].
Advantages of
piezoelectric conversion principle are large power densities of
piezoelectric materials and ease of application .
Piezoelectric energy harvesting is widely studied in the
literature. [2-4]. The problem associated with the modeling of
piezoelectric energy harvesters is due to the complexity of the
piezoelectric materials. Since these materials involve strain
and charge relationship, it is not trivial to model the behavior of
the systems involving piezoelectric materials. During last
decade
single-degree-of-freedom
(lumped
parameter)
approaches are used to model behavior of the piezoelectric
energy harvesting systems [5], [6]. Since this approximation is
limited to single vibration mode, it misses important
interactions such as dynamic mode shapes and strain
distribution [1]. Recently Ertrk et al. reported an analytical
model for both unimorph and bimorph uniform configurations
which are also verified experimentally [7].
Integration of the energy harvesters into the daily life
applications is critical due to increased demand on extending

battery life and renewable energy sources. One of the possible

applications of the energy harvesters is the keyboards due to
high usage rates and mechanical energy availability. Keyboards
can be used to scavenge energy if input mechanical force
applied on button can be converted to electrical power.
However the frequency of typing is low, around 7.5 Hz even
for a skilled typist [8]. In order to harvest energy using a
resonant cantilever structure with length smaller than 5 cm and
natural frequency around 7.5 Hz, one has to use a tip mass.
Usually attached tip mass causes rotational modes at the higher
frequencies. However, both lumped parameter and analytical
modeling (Euler-Bernoulli model) attempts do not consider the
rotational effects. Also the tip mass attached to the structure
with such a low natural frequency cannot be modeled as a point
mass, unlike approximate methods.
The aim in the present work is to develop a detailed finite
element model for piezoelectric energy harvesting applications
to verify this model against a prototyped system toward low
frequency (5-10 Hz) piezoelectric energy harvesters for typing
applications. A unimorph PEH has been modeled in a FEA
program and simulated under realistic boundary conditions.
Total volume of the PEH is 0.23 cm3 (Fig. 1, Fig. 4). The
resonant frequency of the simulated system is around 124 Hz,
and obtained peak-to-peak open circuit voltage in resonance is
66 V for 0.1 mm base excitation. A prototype has been
fabricated, and validated under the same conditions as the
simulations to yield resonant frequency around 109 Hz and
peak-to-peak voltage of 65 V. The maximum validated power
output was close to 0.5 mW with optimal (matched) load
resistance. The difference between simulation and
measurement has been explained by fabrication errors.
Section II explains the modeling and design of the PEH
prototype. Validation results from fabricated prototype are
discussed in Section III. Finally, conclusions from this work are
provided in the last section.
Piezoelectric Material
Structural Layer

y(t)
Voc(t)

Figure 1. Piezoelectric energy harvester

MER, TUBITAK (sponsors)

978-1-4673-0465-8/11/$26.00 2011 IEEE

II. PIEZOELECTRIC ENERGY HARVESTER (PEH) DESIGN

Piezoelectric materials have ability to produce an electrical
charge when deformed mechanically, or conversely, deform
mechanically when exposed to an electrical field. The relation
between deformation mechanism and the electrical charge
produced on piezoelectric materials is defined by the
piezoelectric constitutive equations (Eqn.s 1 and 2) [9]:
E
Sij  sijkl
Tkl  d kij Ek

(1)

Di  d ikl Tkl   ikT Ek

(2)

In above equations Sij represents strain components, Tkl

represents stress components, Ek represents electric field and Di
represents electric displacement. Also dikl term includes
piezoelectric coupling term, sijkl is the compliance data
measured under constant electric field, and ik is the
permittivity data under zero stress field.
Vibration energy harvesting systems can be modeled as
single degree of freedom systems (SDOF) as depicted in Fig. 2.
In the figure, x(t) is the displacement of the relevant point of
the structure (i.e. tip of the cantilever beam) where y(t)
represents the base vibrations. The equivalent stiffness of the
structure is represented by keq and the equivalent damping is
represented by ceq. In order to find the relative displacement of
the vibrating structure, z(t) can be calculated as in equation (3)
and (4) [11].

z(t )  x(t )  y(t )

z (t ) 

w 2 meq
k eq  w 2 meq  jwc eq

(3)

Yo e

jwt

(4)

SDOF representation gives information about the behavior

of the system. However, this approach misses important
factors about the dynamics of the structure, such as strain
distributions and their effects on the electrical response [1].
Although modeling of a uniform cantilever beam is a wellstudied topic, modeling attempts for a beam with varying cross
section and large tip mass only leads to approximate solutions.
Finite element modeling provides fast and reasonable solution
for the investigation of composite beams with non-uniform
cross sections. The model developed in this paper serves as the
foundation for the development of very low frequency
piezeoelectric energy harvesters. ANSYS finite element
program has capability to analyze piezoelectric materials,
since SOLID226 element can relate the structural field with
the electrostatic field [11]. Modal analysis has been conducted
to observe the natural frequency of the modeled structure.
Electrical response of the structure has been simulated by
conducting a coupled harmonic analysis. Parameters used
during the simulations are summarized in Table 1. Natural
frequency of the simulated PEH is obtained as 124 Hz. A
harmonic analysis is conducted by sweeping the frequency
between 40 Hz and 130 Hz in order to obtain the voltage

frequency response functions (FRFs) produced by the

piezoelectric material to 0.1 mm base excitation. A close up
view of the voltage produced on the upper electrode over the
piezoelectric material after harmonic analysis is depicted in
Fig. 3.

Figure 2. Commonly used lumped-parameter model of vibration energy

harvesters

Table 1. Simulation parameters

PZT5A

Brass

Unit

Density

7800

8410

[kg/m3]

Elastic
Modulus

3: 5.2e10

9.2e10

[Pa]

1: 6.6e10

[Pa]

Poisson's ratio

0.35

Element type

SOLID226

SOLID186

d33: 390e-12

[m/V]

d31: -190e-12

[m/V]

K3: 1800

K1: 1730

11/0: 916

Free

Mesh
Piezoelectric
coefficients
Dielectric
constants
Relative
dielectric
constants
Constant
damping ratio

33/0: 830
0.01

Figure 3. Results after harmonic analysis and close up view of voltage

produced on the piezoelectric material

III. PROTOTYPE DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION

A prototype of the designed PEH has been fabricated as
depicted in Fig. 4. The dimensions are provided in Table 2.
Brass is used as a structural layer. Piezoelectric material used
in the experiment is the commercially available PSI-5A4E
(Piezo Systems Inc.) and the polarization direction is through
the thickness of the material as shown in Fig. 1. Upper and
lower surfaces of the piezoelectric material are coated with
nickel, and are thus conductive. Piezoelectric material is
bonded to the structural layer, in order to transfer the stress
produced on the structural layer to piezoelectric material.
Piezoelectric
material

Brass

Figure 5. Experimental setup

Figure 4. Fabricated piezoelectric energy harvester

Structural
layer
PZT

Cantilever beam

Table 2. Structure dimensions

Property
length
width

Dimension (in cm)

4.85
1

thickness

0.04

length

0.7

width

thickness

0.05

Conductive epoxy is used as a bonding layer to make

contact with lower surface of piezoelectric material. After
coating the lower surface of the piezoelectric material with
conductive epoxy, structure is put into oven for 20 minutes at
110 C for the curing of the bonding layer. A fixture is
designed to hold the structure and connect to the upper and
lower surfaces of the piezoelectric material (Fig. 4). The
structure has been mounted on a shaker, and 0.1 mm base
excitations are given to the structure while sweeping the
frequency of the vibrations. Experimental setup used for
measurements is shown in Fig. 5.

the voltage FRFs between experiment and simulations can be

found in Fig. 6. The peak-to-peak voltage at the resonance
frequency of the simulated structure is 65 V, which is almost
equal to experimentally obtained value. Due to ideal bonding
layer in the simulation environment, stiffness of the simulated
model is more than the fabricated structure. While bonding the
piezoelectric material to the host structure, conductive epoxy
is cured under 110 C. After the curing operation, small voids
between the piezoelectric material and structural layer have
been observed. These voids led to a decrease in the resonance
frequency of the fabricated structure. A load resistance sweep
has been used to identify the maximum power output of the
system as 484 W when the load resistance is to 400 k and
rms voltage is 14 V, as shown in Fig. 7.

The natural frequency of the structure is validated as 109

Hz, 12% less than the simulated value. This difference is
expected, because the bonding layer in simulations is uniform
throughout the bottom surface of the piezoelectric material,
while the bonding layer of the structure used in experiments is
not. Uniform bonding layer increases the stiffness of the
structure, and explains the higher natural frequency of the
simulated PEH. Another possible reason for higher natural
frequency in the simulation environment is the mismatch in the
material properties used with the actual properties.
The fabricated PEH was excited with 0.1 mm base
displacements while sweeping the frequency. Comparison of

Figure 6. Comparison of experimental and simulation peak-to-peak voltage

FRFs

600

25
20

400
15
300

10
200

Power

Vrms [V]

Power [W]

500

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

Vrms
5

100
0

200

400

600

800

1000

0
1200

Load Resistance [k]

Figure 7. Power output of piezoelectric energy harvester with various load
resistances

A volume figure of merit [12], calculated as in Eqn. 5, can

be used to calculate the size-normalized performance of
piezoelectric energy harvesters, where Yo is the excitation
amplitude, Au is the density of gold, Vo is the volume of the
device, and w is the excitation frequency. Table 3 reports this
metric for the previous models and the present study. The data
indicates that the performance of the harvester prototype
reported in this work is comparable to previous results or
better, while being model-correlated and designed to fit the
requirements of the targeted application.

Useful.Power .Output
FoM V 
1
Yo  AuVo4 / 3 w3
16

within 12% for resonant frequency of the structure, and 2% for

the output voltage, both attributed to fabrication imperfections.
The maximum validated power output under optimal loading
conditions was close to 0.5 mW. The harvester lays the
groundwork for further development toward computing
application.

This work is in part supported by MER, a partnership between

Intel Corporation and King Abdul-Aziz City for Science and
Technology, to conduct and promote research in the Middle
East. This work is in part supported by TUBITAK, Turkey.
REFERENCES
[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

(5)
[6]

Table 3. Comparison of piezoelectric energy harvesters

Author
Reference V [cm3] Y [um] w [Hz] Power [uW]
Roundy
13
1
4
120
80
Roundy
13
1
7,9
85
90
Roundy
13
1
16
60
180
Wright
13,14
4,8
36
40
700
Tanaka
2
9
10
50
180
Fang
3
0,0006
4,4
609
2,16
Ng
4
0,2
180
100
16,3
Mide
15
40,5
99
50
8000
Mide
15
40,5
11
150
1800
0,23
100 109
484
This Work

FoM
0,39
0,62
1,74
1,25
0,26
1,44
0,026
0,16
0,012
0,89

[7]

[8]

[9]
[10]
[11]
[12]

[13]

IV.

CONCLUSION

FEA method has been used to model a unimorph PEH for

better accuracy of low frequency structures compared to
previous lumped parameter and analytical models. A 0.23 cm3
PEH prototype of 4.85 cm2 was then fabricated and validated
against the model in order to lay ground for further
development toward energy harvesting in computing (typing).
The measurements correlated with the simulation results

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