Design and analysis of nonlinear metastructures for vibration attenuation and energy harvesting

Abstract

Electromechanically coupled beams under axial fluid flow have been investigated for energy harvesting and also for the study of bio-inspired aquatic robots. In the first case, the performance of the system is, under some flow conditions, comparable to that of horizontal axis wind turbines. In the second case, piezoelectric action on beams submerged in water provides thrust and, consequently, locomotion with low actuation power and low noise. This project aims to take advantage of previous experiences of the research group on non-linear beams under axial flow and address the problem from the perspective of metamaterials. A piezofluidelastic model for the analysis of electromechanically coupled metastructures, in particular nonlinear electromechanically coupled beams under axial flow, will be presented. It will be based on the non-linear modeling of beams with piezoelectric layers combined with a non-stationary aerodynamic model. In the absence of aerodynamics, the equations will provide the study of a nonlinear piezoelectric metamaterial, either with identical dynamic properties of its unit cells or with graded properties. Subsequently, the study will be carried out in the presence of axial flow. In both cases, the objective is to investigate nonlinear piezoelectric metamaterials (with identical or graded dynamic properties) regarding the attenuation of elastic and aeroelastic vibrations and also regarding energy harvesting. (AU)