Piezoelectric flutter energy harvesting: Absolute nodal coordinate formulation model and wind tunnel experiment

Abstract

This study proposes a new flutter harvesting analysis framework based on an absolute nodal coordinate formulation (ANCF) model that includes a nonlinear finite element method, a three-dimensional unsteady vortex lattice method that considers nonlinearities, and a piezoelectric equation. Because conventional studies assumed no extensionality of the neutral axis, use of flutter harvester configurations was restricted. However, this framework using the ANCF model can be applied to different configurations (e.g., extensible harvesters with fixed-fixed boundaries or multibody harvesters). The feasibility of the proposed method was verified by conducting wind tunnel experiments. The frequencies, root mean square (RMS) displacements, and RMS voltages of the analysis and experiment were compared. The difference between experiment and analysis was 23% in terms of frequencies. One of the reasons for the difference was viscous drag. Although the results were not a perfect match, the introduction of a viscous drag model will be considered in future studies to enhance this framework.