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Analytical and experimental study on vibration energy harvesting behaviors of

piezoelectric cantilevers with different geometries

Conference Paper · May 2009

DOI: 10.1109/SUPERGEN.2009.5348290 · Source: IEEE Xplore

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 1

Analytical and Experimental Study on Vibration

Energy Harvesting Behaviors of Piezoelectric
Cantilevers with Different Geometries
Z. S. Chen, Y. M. Yang and G. Q. Deng

supply [3].
Abstract—Power supply is a bottle-neck problem of wireless While there are several options for harvesting the ambient
micro-sensors, especially where the replacement of batteries is vibration power, piezoelectric materials have been of great
impossible or inconvenient. Now piezoelectric material is being interest and promise [4, 5].Currently rectangular piezoelectric
used to harvest vibration energy for self-powered sensors.
vibrators are usually adopted for vibration energy harvesting.
However, the geometry of a piezoelectric cantilever beam will
greatly affects its vibration energy harvesting ability. So in this However, stress concentration phenomenon will appear when
paper strain formulation of rectangular, trapezoidal and piezoelectric cantilevers are bent. General speaking, stress in
triangular piezoelectric cantilevers are deduced respectively. the section of the fixed end is the most among those of all
Then their finite element models and static analysis are presented sections, in particular stress in the section of the free end is
by a finite element analysis method. Simulation and experiment nearly equal to zero. So in this way piezoelectric effect of
results demonstrate that under the same conditions using
rectangular vibrators can’t be utilized completely, which will
triangular cantilever beams can improve the strain distribution
and generate more voltage than trapezoidal and rectangular. cause the efficiency of transforming vibration energy to
Thus the proposed method will provide theoretical principles of electrical energy to be low. In order to solve this problem, a
optimal designing piezoelectric cantilever beams for vibration promising way is to study piezoelectric characteristics of other
energy harvesting to power wireless micro-sensors. vibrators with other different geometries [6]. In this paper it
will focus on three piezoelectric vibrators, including
Index Terms—Energy Harvesting, Finite Element Analysis, rectangular, triangular and trapezoidal ones. As we all known,
Different Geometries, Piezoelectric Cantilevers Beams,
strain is the most important factor of affecting the amount of
Vibration-powered Wireless Sensors.
electrical energy generation, so at first this paper will analyze
theoretical formulations of their strains under the same loads
I. INTRODUCTION and then a finite element simulation method is used to analyze
their voltage outputs. In the end an experimental test rig is
N OWADAYS wireless micro-sensors show enormous
promise for safety improvements and cost reductions in
monitoring and controlling plants, resources and
constructed to testify the results of analytical analysis and
simulations.
infrastructures[1,2]. A significant challenge for wireless II. ANALYTICAL STRAIN ANALYSIS OF THREE PIEZOELECTRIC
micro-sensors is power supply. Many of those wireless sensors VIBRATORS WITH DIFFERENT GEOMETRIES
are now battery-powered. But replacing batteries is very
inconvenient due to their limited lifetime. In particular, Because piezoelectric ceramics are stiff and crisp, they are
wireless micro-sensors are installed in the remote areas and in general not used directly. A piezoelectric vibrator usually
difficult to retrieve for battery replacement. Without replacing composes of a piece of piezoelectric ceramic and a substrate
batteries, the wireless micro-sensors will stop working as soon of metal material. Compared to other structural forms of
as the energy runs out. The labor and cost associated with beams, a cantilever beam can obtain the maximum
changing hundreds or thousands of batteries would be deformation and strain under the same conditions. Meanwhile
troublesome and expensive in maintaining them. Therefore, it its resonant frequencies are the lowest [7]. Thus in this paper,
is desired that the wireless micro-sensors can acquire energy a piezoelectric cantilever vibrator is selected and studied
from the ambient environment to have a perpetual power shown as Fig.1, where two piezoelectric ceramics are affixed
on the bottom and the top of the substrate material
symmetrically, with two electrodes placed on the bottom and
This work was supported in part by the National Natural Science
top piezoelectric ceramic respectively.
Foundation of China under Grant 50805142.
Z. S. Chen is with the National University of Defense Technology, In Fig.1 length, thickness and width of the vibrator are
Changsha, HuNan 410073, CHINA (e-mail: czs_study@sina.com). denoted as l 、 p 、 w respectively. Elastic modulus of
Y. M. Yang is with the National University of Defense Technology,
Changsha, HuNan 410073, CHINA (e-mail: yangyongmin@yahoo.com).
piezoelectric ceramics is denoted as E. Length, thickness and
G. Q. Deng is with the National University of Defense Technology, width of the substrate are denoted as l、2b、w respectively
Changsha, HuNan 410073, CHINA (e-mail: dengguanqian@yahoo.com). and its elastic modulus is denoted as E1. Considering that
 2

width and elastic modulus of the affixed layer are far smaller x
than those of piezoelectric ceramics and the substrate, so in wt = w − ( w − w1 ) (6)
this paper they will be neglected. l
piezoelectric
ceramics
base

Fig.1. Stretch of a piezoelectric cantilever vibrator

When free end of the vibrator is pressed by an outer force of
F, it will generate a bending moment around the axis of y.
Under this way, the displacement of a dot on the neutral axis Fig.2. Stretches of a rectangular, trapezoidal and triangular piezoelectric
projecting to the z-axis is defined as its flexible degree. cantilever vibrators
It can be inferred from Eq.(6) that it is a rectangular vibrator
According to basic principles of ∑
Fi = 0 , M i = 0 , the
i
∑i
when w1= w and it is a triangular vibrator when w1=0.
bending moment of a piezoelectric cantilever vibrator at the According to the equation of inertia moments, the
distance of x can be expressed as Eq.(1). equivalent inertia moment of a trapezoidal vibrator can be
M ( x) = F (l − x ) 0≤ x≤l 　　
(1) calculated as Eq.(7).
It can inferred from Eq.(1) that the maximum bending b E2 b+ p
I t = ∫ z 2 wt dz + 2 ∫ z 2 wt dz
moment will be obtained at the root of the vibrator, that is −b E1 b

M max = F × l . 2 wt
According to piezoelectric effect equations, generated = ( E1b3 + 3E2b 2 p + 3E2bp 2 + E2 p 3 )
3E1
voltage output of a piezoelectric vibrator is proportional to its
strain. In other words, the more strain of each location is, 2 x
= [ w − ( w − w1 )]( E1b3 + 3E2b 2 p + 3E2bp 2 + E2 p 3 )
the more generated voltage output is. 3E1 l
The strain of a piezoelectric cantilever vibrator at the (7)
distance of x is defined as Eq.(2). The equivalent inertia moment of a triangular vibrator can
M ( x) z (2) be calculated as Eq.(8).
ε ( x， z ) = −
E×I b E b+ p
I s = ∫ z 2 ws dz + 2 2 ∫ z 2 ws dz
It can inferred from Eq.(2) that strain ε is inverse- −b E1 b
proportional to the inertia moment, I. (8)
2w
According to approximate differential equations on flexible = s ( E1b3 + 3E2b 2 p + 3E2bp 2 + E2 p 3 )
curves of a beam, we have 3E1
( E1 × I1 + E2 × I 2 ) × z " = M (3) 2w x
= (1 − )( E1b3 + 3E2b 2 p + 3E2bp 2 + E2 p3 )
3E1 l
Furthermore denoting I j = I1 + E2 ⋅ I 2 as an equivalent In Fig.2 the substrate material is selected to be nickel alloy
E1
inertia moment, there is and E1=1.7 × 1011Pa. The type of piezoelectric ceramics is
selected to be PZT-5H and E2=1.06×1011Pa. In this paper it is
E1 I j z " = M (4)
assumed that w=20mm, l=40mm, w1=10.2mm, b=0.1mm,
Where p=0.2mm, z=-0.3mm.
b E2 b+ p
Substituting Eq.(1) and Eq.(5) into Eq.(2), we can get the
I j = ∫ z 2 wdz + 2 ∫ z 2 wdz
−b E1 b (5) strain of a rectangular piezoelectric vibrator as Eq.(9).
2w M ( x) z
= ( E1b3 + 3E2b 2 p + 3E2bp 2 + E2 p 3 ) ε ( x， z ) = −
3E1 E×I
In order to compare the strains of three piezoelectric 1.95 ×10−7 ×（ 40 − x） (9)
vibrators at the same scale, we select a rectangular, trapezoidal =
w
and triangular vibrator with the same length, thickness and
root width respectively, shown as Fig.2. = 9.75 ×10−6 ×（ 40 − x）
The width of the free end of trapezoidal vibrators is denoted Substituting Eq.(1) and Eq.(7) into Eq.(2), we can get the
as w1. The widths at the distance of x for trapezoidal and deformation of a trapezoidal piezoelectric vibrator as Eq.(10).
triangular vibrators are denoted as wt 、ws respectively and
their corresponding deformations, equivalent inertia moments
and strains are denoted as zt、zs、It、Is、εt、εs respectively.
Thus Eq.(6) can be obtained
 3

M ( x) z ⎧⎪S1 = s11E X 1 + d 31 E 3
ε t ( x， z ) = − （13）
E×I ⎨
(10) ⎪⎩ D3 = d 31 X 1 + ε 33
T
E3
1.95 × 10−7 ×（ 40 − x）
= Where S1, X1 denote the strain and stress in the direction of x
x
w − × ( w − w1 ) E
l respectively. s11 denotes the flexible coefficient under short
1.95 × 10−7 ×（ 40 − x） circuit. d31 denotes the piezoelectric constant of a piezoelectric
=
20 − 0.254 × x ceramics. E3 denotes the electric field intensity in the direction
When assuming w1=5mm in Eq.(10), a trapezoidal of z. D3 denotes the electric displacement in the direction of
piezoelectric vibrator can be approximately regarded as a z. ε 33 denotes the dielectric constants.
T

triangular piezoelectric vibrator and its strain can be obtained

Property parameters of the piezoelectric ceramics are as
as Eq.(11).
M ( x) z follows: its density ρ p =7.6 × 103kg/m3, E2=1.06 × 1011 Pa.
ε s ( x， z ) = −
E×I (11) The matrix of dielectric constants is denoted as ε . The matrix
1.95 ×10−7 ×（ 40 − x） of piezoelectric stress constants is denoted as e . The matrix of
= elastic stiffness constants is denoted as c .
20 − 0.4 × x
According to Eq.(9), Eq.(10) and Eq.(11), strain curves ⎡7.124 0 0 ⎤
of a rectangular, trapezoidal and triangular piezoelectric [ε] = ⎢ 0 7.124 0 ⎥⎥ × 10−9
⎢
cantilever vibrator in the direction of length is plotted as
Fig.3 and the result is similar to that obtained by [8]. ⎣⎢ 0 0 5.841⎦⎥
x 10
-4
⎡ 0 0 − 4 . 1⎤
2.5 ⎢ 0 0 − 4 . 1⎥⎥
⎢
⎢ 0 14 . 1 ⎥
Triangular vibrators
• • • • • 0
2
[e ] = ⎢ ⎥
⎢ 0 0 0 ⎥
•Strains

⎢ 0 0 ⎥
1.5
10 . 5
⎢ ⎥
•

• vibrators
Rectangular •
1 ⎢⎣10 . 5 0 0 ⎥⎦
Trapezoidal•vibrators
•
⎡13.2 7.1 7.3 0 0 0 ⎤
0.5
⎢ 7.1 13.2 7.3 0 0 0 ⎥
⎢ ⎥
⎢ 7.3 7.3 11.5 0 0 0 ⎥ 10
[c] = ⎢
0
⎥ ×10
0 10 20 30 40 50

⎢ 0 0 0 3 0 0⎥
• • • • • • • • x/ mm
Distance in the direction of length x/mm

Fig.3. Comparision of strains of three piezoelectric cantilever vibrators with ⎢ 0 0 0 0 2.6 0 ⎥

different shapes ⎢ ⎥
⎢⎣ 0 0 0 0 0 2.6⎥⎦
It can be seen from Fig.3 that the strain of a triangular
Material parameters of the substrate are as follows: its
piezoelectric vibrator is more than those of a trapezoidal and
rectangular vibrator under the same conditions, that is density is ρ cu =8.8×103kg/m3, E1=1.7×1011 Pa, its Poisson’s
ε s ( x, z ) ≥ ε t ( x , z ) ≥ ε ( x , z ) (12) ratio is μ =0.32.
Eq.(12) demonstrates that the distribution of strain can be Next steps of finite element modeling of piezoelectric
improved effectively by using a triangular piezoelectric vibrators are as follows.
cantilever vibrators, which will be useful to harvest more Step 1) Build its geometric model of a piezoelectric vibrator
vibration energy in practice. by simplification and approximation.
Step 2) Set up the properties of material parameters and grid
III. FINITE ELEMENT MODELING OF THREE DIFFERENT partition, and then partition grids for the above piezoelectric
PIEZOELECTRIC CANTILEVER VIBRATORS vibrator model by the way of projecting.
Step 3) Add boundary conditions, such as loading freedom
In order to testify theoretical results at the second section, a
degree restrictions on the fixed end of the piezoelectric
finite element analysis method is used here because it is
vibrator.
accurate and convenient. A finite element model is the basis of
Step 4) After above steps have been done, finite element
simulation analysis, so at first piezoelectric vibrators in Fig.2
models of a rectangular, trapezoidal and triangular piezoelec-
will be modeled by the software of ANSYS10.0 and then
tric cantilever vibrator can be obtained as Fig.4 respectively.
those models can be used to study the deformation, strain and
generated voltage distribution of a piezoelectric cantilever
vibrator.
As to a piezoelectric cantilever vibrator shown as Fig.2, the
boundary conditions are mechanical freedom and electrical （a） Rectangular （b）Trapezoidal （c）Triangular
short circuit. Thus the first type of piezoelectric equations is Fig.4. Finite element models of a rectangular, trapezoidal and triangular
piezoelectric cantilever vibrator
used here.
 4

IV. FINITE ELEMENT SIMULATIONS ON ELECTRICAL generated by a trapezoidal vibrator is equal to -52.699V
BEHAVIORS OF PIEZOELECTRIC VIBRATORS WITH DIFFERENT (Because the reference voltage of the substrate is equal to zero
GEOMETRIES and the top of piezoelectric vibrators is pulled, generated
After finite element models of piezoelectric vibrators have voltages are minus). Comparison of deformations, strains and
been built, it is necessary to exert freedom degree and voltage voltages of three different piezoelectric vibrators is shown as
coupling on the contacting surface between the substrate and Fig.7.
piezoelectric ceramics patches. So that the motion between 6
10
them is continuous and the surface of piezoelectric ceramics

• • z/ mm z/mm
patches is an equivalent-voltage plane. 4

• Strains
• Deformations

•
In this paper, a force of 1N is loaded on the center of the 5
2
free end of the rectangular, trapezoidal and triangular
piezoelectric cantilever vibrator respectively. Then their strain 0 0
and voltage distributions are calculated and shown as Fig.5, • Rec.• • Trp.
• • Tri.• • • Rec.
• • Trp.• • Tri.• •
Fig.6. (a) deformations （b）strains
-60

v/V
• v/ V
-40

•Voltages
（a）A rectangular vibrator -20

0
• Rec.
• •Trp.• • Tri.• •
(c) voltages
（b）A trapezoidal vibrator Fig.7. Comparison of deformations, strains and voltages of three different
piezoelectric vibrators
It can be concluded from Fig.7 that the deformation, strain
and voltage of a triangular vibrator is more than those of a
rectangular or trapezoidal vibrator. So the result is the same as
（c）A triangular vibrator that of theoretical analysis.
Fig.5. Strain distributions of three different piezoelectric vibrators
It can be seen from Fig.5 (a) that the strain distribution of a V. EXPERIMENTS
rectangular piezoelectric vibrator is not much uniform. The In order to testify the results of analytical analysis and
maximum strain is equal to 4.02×10-4, which is located at a finite element simulations, a test rig is built to generate a
small area of the root, while the minimum strain is close to practical vibration source as Fig.8 (left). The driving motor is
zero at the free end. It can be seen from Fig.5 (b) that the connected to a shaft that passes through a series of two bearing
strain distribution of a trapezoidal vibrator is improved a little. mounts and a flywheel is used to simulate a load. The rotating
It can be seen from Fig.5 (c) that the strain distribution of a speed of the driving motor is controlled by a frequency
trapezoidal vibrator is almost uniform and close to the inverter. Three piezoelectric cantilever vibrator samples are
maximum value of 5.73×10-4. manufactured as Fig.8 (right). The root length and width of
vibrators are 40mm and 20mm respectively. The thicknesses
of piezoelectric ceramics and the substrate are 0.1mm and
0.2mm respectively. The width of another end of the
trapezoidal vibrator is 10.2mm.
（a） A rectangular vibrator

（b）A trapezoidal vibrator

Fig.8. Experiment test rig (left) and three piezoelectric vibrator samples (right)
As we all known, in addition, when a piezoelectric vibrator
resonates at its excitation frequency, it will produce the
（c）A triangular vibrator
maximum deformation. Under this condition, it will increase
Fig.6. Voltage distributions of three different piezoelectric vibrators the voltage output greatly. Thus in this paper different
It can be seen from Fig.6 that voltage generated by a vibration sources are generated by setting different rotating
rectangular vibrator is equal to -26.351V, voltage generated by speeds to testify it. Next voltage outputs of three piezoelectric
a trapezoidal vibrator is equal to -34.862V and voltage vibrators under those vibration sources are obtained as from
 5

TABLE I to TABLE III and plotted as Fig.9 respectively. cantilevers vibrators will be the maximum only when it
resonate with the vibration source.
TABLE I 6

VOLTAGE OUTPUTS OF THE RECTANGULAR VIBRATOR UNDER DIFFERENT 4

DRIVING FREQUENCIES

? ? v/V
2

Voltage
0

Frequency(Hz) 24 25 25.4 25.6 26 -2

-4

Voltage(V) 0.42 0.55 0.7 0.8 1 0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200
?Samples
? ?
1400 1600 1800 2000

100
Frequency(Hz) 26.2 27 28 29
80

Magnitude
Voltage(V) 0.92 0.8 0.7 0.6 60

P/ W
40

20

TABLE II 0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
VOLTAGE OUTPUTS OF THE TRAPEZOIDAL VIBRATOR UNDER DIFFERENT ? ? f/ Hzf / Hz
Frequency
DRIVING FREQUENCIES
Fig.10. The vibration signal(top) and its PSD(bottom) at the rotating
frequency of 26Hz
Frequency(Hz) 26 27 27.3 27.5 28 Also it can be seen from Fig.9 that the peak voltage of a
Voltage(V) 0.6 0.8 1.1 1.4 1.6
triangular vibrator is much more than those of both a
trapezoidal one and a rectangular one, which is consistent to
Frequency(Hz) 28.5 28.7 29 30 the results of analytical analysis and finite element simulation.
In addition the resonating frequency of a triangular vibrator is
Voltage(V) 1.5 1.3 1 0.9 larger than those of both a trapezoidal one and a rectangular
one.
TABLE III
VOLTAGE OUTPUTS OF THE TRIANGULAR VIBRATOR UNDER DIFFERENT VI. CONCLUSIONS
DRIVING FREQUENCIES
In the future power supply is a great challenge for wireless
Frequency(Hz) 27 29 31 31.5 31.8 micro-sensors because the life of batteries is limited. It is a
promising way of harvesting energy from vibration
Voltage(V) 0.45 0.6 1 1.6 2.2 environments to generate electric power for wireless micro-
sensors. Due to good piezoelectric effects, piezoelectric
Frequency(Hz) 32 33 33.5 35 vibrators are widely used for self-powered micro-sensors. But
Voltage(V) 2.5 2.7 2.28 1.47
as to a piezoelectric cantilever beam, its geometry will greatly
affects its vibration energy harvesting ability. In this paper
strain formulation of rectangular, trapezoidal and triangular
piezoelectric cantilevers are deduced respectively. Then their
finite element models and static analysis are presented by a
finite element analysis method. Simulation and experiment
results demonstrate that under the same conditions triangular
Voltage v / V

cantilever beams can improve the strain distribution and

generate more voltage than trapezoidal ones and rectangular
ones are the worst. The proposed method will provide
theoretical principles of optimal designing piezoelectric
cantilever beams for vibration energy harvesting to power
wireless micro-sensors.

Fig.9. Comparison of voltage outputs of three piezoelectric vibrators under VII. ACKNOWLEDGMENT
different driving frequencies
The authors would like to acknowledge the support of
It can be seen from Fig.9 that voltage outputs of each National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant
piezoelectric vibrator are much different under different 50805142) and Maintenance Engineering Foundation. Z. S.
vibration sources. Taking the rectangular vibrator as an Chen will thank Prof. Y. M. Yang for his guidance and thank
example, its voltage output reaches the maximum value at the G. Q. Deng for his help in the finite element analysis.
rotating frequency of 26Hz approximately. At this time the
vibration signal is sampled and its PSD are plotted as Fig.10. VIII. REFERENCES
It can be seen from Fig.10 that an area of including main
[1] S. Kim, W. W. Clark, and Q. M. Wang, "Piezoelectric energy harvesting
frequencies locates near the frequency of 26Hz. At the same using a diaphragm structure," In 2003 Proc. of the SPIE, Vol. 5055, pp.
time the first-order inherent frequency of the rectangular 307-318.
vibrator is calculated to be 25.5Hz by modal analysis. The [2] A. Mainwaring, J. Polastre, R. Szewczyk, and D. Culler. "Wireless
sensor networks for habitat monitoring". In Proc. 2002 ACM Workshop
results demonstrate that the voltage output of a piezoelectric on Sensor Networks and Applications, pp. 88-97.
 6

[3] C. B. Williams, R. B. Yates, "Analysis of a micro-electric generator for

microsystems, " Sensors and Actuators, vol. 52, pp. 8-11, 1996.
[4] H. S. Yoon, G. Washington, and A. Danak, "Modelling, optimisation,
and design of efficient initially curved piezoceramic unimorphs for
energy harvesting applications," J. Intell. Mater. Syst. Struct., Vol.16, pp.
877–888, 2005.
[5] M. Goldfarb, and L. D. Jones, "On the efficiency of electric power
generation with piezoelectric ceramic," Trans. ASME J. Dyn. Syst. Meas.
Control, Vol. 121, pp. 566–571, 1999
[6] J. Baker, S. Roundy, and P. Wright, "Alternative Geometries for
Increasing Power Density in Vibration Energy Scavenging for Wireless
Sensor Networks," in Proc. 2005 3rd International Energy Conversion
Engineering Conf., pp. 8: 1-12.
[7] T. A. Anderson, D. W. Sexton, "A Vibration Energy Harvesting Sensor
Platform for Increased Industrial Efficiency," In 2006 Proc. of the SPIE,
Vol. 6174, pp. 621-629.
[8] S. Roundy, E. S. Leland, J. Baker, etc., "Improving power output for
vibration-based energy scavengers," IEEE Pervasive computing, Vol. 4,
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IX. BIOGRAPHIES
Z. S. Chen was born in Anhui Province, China,
on Aug. 13, 1977. He received the B.E. and Ph.D.
degrees in Mechatronic Engineering from the
National University of Defense Technology, P. R.
China in 1999 and 2004, respectively. From 2004 to
2008, he worked as a lecturer in Institute of
Mechatronic Engineering, National University of
Defense Technology. Current research interests
include condition monitoring and fault diagnosis,
mechanical signal processing and data fusion,
vibration energy harvesting, etc.
.
Y. M. Yang was born in Hunan Province, China,
on Apr. 20, 1966. He received the B.E. and Ph.D.
degrees in Mechatronic Engineering from the
National University of Defense Technology, P. R.
China in 1990 and 2008, respectively. From 1992 to
1998, he worked as a lecturer in Institute of
Mechatronic Engineering, National University of
Defense Technology; from 1999 to 2003 as an
associate professor and then from 2004 to 2008 as a
professor. From May, 1998 to May, 1999, he worked
as a visiting scholar in Department of Mechanical
Engineering University of California, Berkeley, US.
Current research interests include modeling and analysis of dynamic systems,
condition monitoring and fault diagnosis, integrated diagnostics, vibration
energy harvesting, etc.

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