Perspectives in flow-induced vibration energy harvesting

Abstract

Flow-induced vibration (FIV) energy harvesting has attracted extensive research interest in the past two decades. Remarkable research achievements and contributions from different aspects are briefly overviewed. Example applications of FIV energy harvesting techniques in the development of Internet of Things are mentioned. The challenges and difficulties in this field are summarized from two sides. First, the multi-physics coupling problem in FIV energy harvesting still cannot be well handled. There is a lack of system-level theoretical modeling that can accurately account for fluid-structure interaction, the electromechanical coupling, and complicated interface circuits. Second, the robustness of FIV energy harvesters needs to be further improved to adapt to the uncertainties in practical scenarios. To be more specific, the cut-in wind speed is expected to be further reduced and the power output to be increased. Finally, Perspectives on the future development in this direction are discussed. Machine-learning approaches, the versatility of metamaterials, and more advanced interface circuits should receive more attention from researchers, since these cutting-edge techniques may have the potential to address the multi-physics modeling problem of FIV energy harvesters and significantly improve the operation performance. In addition, in-depth collaborations between researchers from different disciplines are anticipated to promote the FIV energy harvesting technology to step out of the lab and into real applications.