Modeling and Analysis of Piezoelectric Bimorph Cantilever for Vibration Energy Harvesting

Abstract

The vibration energy can be converted to electrical energy directly and efficiently using piezoelectric cantilever beam based on piezoelectric effect. Since its structure is simple and its working process is unpoisonous to the environment, the piezoelectric cantilever beam can be used in various fields comprehensively. The present paper perform an analysis on the vibration energy harvesting problem of piezoelectric bimorph cantilever beam. The piezoelectric cantilever model has been formulated using the theory of elasticity mechanics and piezoelectric theory. A prototype of piezoelectric power generator is set up to do vibration test, and the electromechanical coupling FEA model under vibration load is built to simulate its output displacement, stress and voltage. The present numerical results of piezoelectric bimorph cantilever coincide well with our related experimental results, which shows the validity of the present FEA model and the relate results.