Abstract
Piezoelectric bimorph cantilever is a typical structure for vibration energy harvesting. This paper studies the method to improve the accuracy of FEA (finite element analysis) simulation for piezoelectric bimorph cantilever. The COSMOL simulation methods based on 1 D (dimension) model of Euler Bernoulli beam, as well as 2 D and 3 D models of solid mechanics are proposed respectively. Compared with the theory and experiment results given by Erturk A, the influences of 1 D and 3 D piezoelectric material parameters on simulation accuracy in FEA modeling is discussed. The simulation error can be reduced to less than 1.2% by using 1D piezoelectric material parameters in COMSOL simulation, while the maximum simulation error can be up to 28% by using 3D piezoelectric material parameters. Comparing serial and parallel configurations of piezoelectric bimorph cantilever, the output electrical powers, varying with the excitation frequency and load resistance, are also discussed in COMSOL simulation. Performance comparation of three kinds of piezoelectric bimorph cantilevers with tip mass shows that the modelling and simulation in finite element methods by COMSOL are simple and convenient, and are suitable for the electromechanical coupling analysis and optimization of complex topological structures.
Highlights
Piezoelectric vibration energy harvesting technology is promising in power self-supply for IoT (Internet of Things) devices
Finite element analysis (FEA) has been widely used in the modeling and simulation of piezoelectric vibration energy harvester (PVEH), and some studies claim that the COMSOL simulation results fit well with the experimental results, but the detailed parameter values and modeling methods are not given, and the simulation is difficult to reproduce
In order to explore the reason why the simulation results in COMSOL 2D and COMSOL 3D models with PZT-5H parameters in 3D are too high, the piezoelectric material parameters of PZT5H are modified and replaced with the PZT-5H parameters in 1D as shown in Table III, which are consistent in the distributed parameter method (DPM) model
Summary
Piezoelectric vibration energy harvesting technology is promising in power self-supply for IoT (Internet of Things) devices. Piezoelectric bimorph cantilever is a typical vibration energy harvesting structure. Dauksevicius used COMSOL to analyse magnetic plucking dynamics in a frequency up-converting piezoelectric energy harvester. Another advantage of FEA is the whole system modeling and simulation of electromechanical coupling structure and circuit. FEA has been widely used in the modeling and simulation of piezoelectric vibration energy harvester (PVEH), and some studies claim that the COMSOL simulation results fit well with the experimental results, but the detailed parameter values and modeling methods are not given, and the simulation is difficult to reproduce. This study will discuss a FEA method for the piezoelectric bimorph cantilever by COMSOL Multiphysics, aiming at structural eigenfrequency analysis and electromechanical coupling analysis. Compared with the DPM simulation results of Erturk A,23 the reliability of FEA in COMSOL is verified
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