An online numerical simulation tool at the nanoHUB website was developed to study and predict the electrical energy harvested from mechanical vibrations through a device with piezoelectric materials. This device consists of a cantilevered composite beam with piezoelectric and metallic layers and a proof mass attached on the tip. This electro-mechanical system is modeled with a set of ordinary differential equations that describe the dynamics of the displacement of the tip and the output voltage. The developed tool allows the user to set-up the dimensions and materials of the beam, along with diverse excitation conditions and different circuit topologies (full-wave rectifier or just a resistive load). Scaling effects were considered in the simulation to estimate the dominant mechanical damping components in MEMS devices. The predictions of this tool were compared against published experimental data, and show good agreement in frequency and voltage estimations.

Nanoelectronics Research Group. Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana.

Microelectronics Research Center (CMUA). Universidad de los Andes, Colombia.

Jorge Mario Monsalve is a graduating Senior of B.S. in Mechanical Engineering at the Universidad de los Andes, Colombia. He is also on his senior year for obtaining a degree of B.S. in Electronics Engineering at the same university. He has been involved in the Micro- and Nano-technology research group lead by professor Alba G. Avila, doing experimental works with piezoelectric systems. He has been an undergraduate Teaching Assistant at 4 Materials Science related courses from the departments of Mechanical Engineering and Electrical Engineering.

German Felipe Giraldo is a Senior of B.Sb in Electronic Engineering and Physics at the Universidad de los Andes, Colombia. He has been involved in the the Andes University Microelectronic Center, working in the Techniques and Technologies for Electronic Design line of research, developing  learning tools for the Computer Architecture class.

nanoHUB Summer Undegraduate Research Fellowhip (S.U.R.F.) 2014

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Researchers should cite this work as follows:

• Jorge Mario Monsalve, German Felipe Giraldo, Alba Graciela Avila, Gerhard Klimeck (2014), "MEMS Piezoelectric Vibrational Energy Harvesting Lab," https://nanohub.org/resources/piezoharvest. (DOI: 10.4231/D3P26Q44Q).

  BibTex | EndNote

1. energy harvesting
2. MEMS
3. Nano Electro-Mechanical Systems (NEMS)
4. nanoelectronics
5. NEMS/MEMS
6. piezoelectricity