Design and Simulation of Piezoelectric MEMS Cantilever

In this paper, a Micro – Electrical Mechanical System (MEMS) energy harvester is developed, using the phenomenon of Piezoelectricity. Zinc Oxide (ZnO) was chosen as the piezoelectric material. A multi – d31 mode cantilever design was used with varying dimensions of cantilever, to form an array. The individual cantilevers can be either connected in series or parallel to achieve different output characteristics. Present paper focuses on providing power for remote operations like vehicle tyre pressure sensors by harnessing the vibrations of the vehicle and converting it into electrical energy. An array of cantilevers thus designed and simulated, varying the length and thickness of the piezoelectric material to harness different vibrational frequencies. Simulations were performed on finite element software COMSOL Multiphysics, which revealed the wide range of resonance frequencies between 1 kHz to 150 kHz.