Numerical simulations of piezoelectric MEMS energy harvesters

The application of piezoelectric materials in MEMS energy harvesters is continuously increasing, with the immediate corollary of a fundamental need for improved computational tools in order to optimize the performances at the design level. In this paper, a refined, yet simple model is proposed with the aim of providing fast and insightful solutions to the multi-physics problem of piezoelectric energy harvesting. The main objective is to retain a simple structural model (Euler-Bernoulli beam), with the inclusion of effects connected to the actual three-dimensional shape of the device. A thorough presentation of the analytical model is presented, along with its validation by comparison with the results of full 3D computations.