Energy harvesting from airflow excited oscillations

Abstract

For the past years, there has been an increase in research in the area of vibration based energy harvesting. The main motivation is to provide electrical energy for remotely operated systems with limited energy sources. Different transduction mechanisms can be used for vibration to electricity conversion. However, the piezoelectric one has received the most attention due to the easy of use and power density it provides. Although aeroelastic phenomena are usually avoided, the conversion of aeroelastic vibrations into electrical energy is a powerful option for wind energy harvesting. In this proposal, the main goal is the investigation of the interaction of piezoelectric energy harvesting and a nonlinear aeroelastic plate, providing a useful broadband wind energy harvester. This is a valuable research field that has not been covered so far. The interaction of piezoelectric energy harvesting and the nonlinear behavior can have interesting aspects for energy conversion and also for aeroelastic vibrations control. An electromechanically coupled nonlinear finite element model will be presented. The von Karman large deflection strain-displacement relations will be considered. Roger's approximation will be used to obtain the unsteady aerodynamic loads. The harmonic balance method will be used to solve the nonlinear piezoaeroelastic equations. (AU)