An investigation on piezoelectric energy harvesting for MEMS power sources

Abstract

This paper presents the feasibility of using piezoelectric materials in a power source for micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) devices. The finite element method (FEM) is adopted to evaluate the power generations of commercially available piezofilms that are subjected to a fluctuating pressure source (blood pressure). The accuracy of the results obtained from the FEM is verified by comparing with the corresponding results obtained from a theoretical analysis. In addition, an experiment is undertaken in order to evaluate the power generation of two different shapes of the piezofilms: square and circle. Finally, a brief discussion is made on the storage of experimentally harvested power and use of the MEMS applications.

Energy harvesting vibration sources for microsystems applications

“…Maximizing the area and minimizing the plate thickness maximized the calculated power providing a theoretical value of 2.3 µW. Circular and square PVDF plates for use in harvesting energy from changes in blood pressure have also been investigated by Sohn et al [51]. The finite-element analysis of the PVDF membranes determined that for a circular diaphragm of 5.56 mm radius the optimum thickness of 9 µm produces 0.61 µW whilst a 10 × 10 mm square membrane of thickness 110 µm produces 0.03 µW.…”

A Contemporary Survey on Energy Harvesting Techniques for Next Generation Implantable Bio-Medical Devices

“…This triggers new investigations on using piezoelectric generator to provide very low amount of power. Ramsay and Clark [21] and Sohn et al [22] investigated the feasibility of using piezoelectric membrane to extract energy from the change of blood pressure at each heart pulse. The change of blood pressure is typically in the range of 30 to 50mmHg.…”

Energy harvesting by means of flow-induced vibrations on aerospace vehicles

“…Sohn et al [141] and Wang et al [142,143] studied EH of piezofilms under a fluctuating pressure source. In Fig.…”