Design and Development of MEMS based Piezoelectric Energy Harvester

In recent decades, with the advancement of microtechnology, various sensors and actuators have been developed based on MEMS (micro electromechanical systems) technology. Their low power usage, miniature size, and high precision are significant advantages of these electronic devices, so their utilization has been expanded in industrial applications. The energy collection method of piezoelectric energy harvesters was briefly discussed in this work. The methods involved in improving the power of piezoelectric energy harvesters are structural modification, various cross-sections of bluff bodies, and single and multi-layer cantilever beam arrangements are discussed in detail. Finally, a new dimensional piezoelectric energy harvester has been developed to harness the electrical energy from FIV (flow induced vibrations). In addition to this, we focused on the structural modified cantilever piezoelectric energy harvesters with rectangular and trapezoidal sections to harvest the power using COMSOL software. The results demonstrate that a harvester having a trapezoidal section provides more stress and displacement in comparison with rectangular sections. A Finite Element Model (FEM) is implemented to generate the harvester voltage from the piezoelectric patch when subjected to the disturbances. In addition, the dimensions of the beam, layer, and pressure of fluid can be estimated using a FEM model to obtain the voltage from the harvester.