Thermoelastic damping in parallel piezoelectric bimorph

Abstract Thermoelastic damping (TED) determines the upper limit of the quality factor. The accurate analysis of TED is critical for the design and research of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). Therefore, the accurate analysis of electromechanical coupling, which is one of the main coupling forms in MEMS systems, on TED is also of great significance. Piezoelectric materials facilitate the interplay between mechanical stress and electrical energy by the piezoelectric effect, thus enabling the synergistic integration of electromechanical systems. In this paper, an analytical model of TED for a parallel piezoelectric bimorph is proposed, and the convergence of the model is analyzed. The difference of TED on the thickness of the beam at fixed aspect ratios and fixed lengths, as well as the influence of piezoelectric effect and boundary conditions on TED, are discussed.