Aeroelastic Energy Harvesting: A Case for Galloping

Abstract

Energy Harvesting (EH) from transverse galloping of bluff bodies can be used to convert wind energy into electrical power to develop self-powered devices (like sensors). This paper focuses on the numerical investigation of flow-induced vibration based energy harvesting by the use of piezoelectric material. Different turbulence models are analyzed for the CFD simulations of which the Realizable k-ϵ model yielded the most accurate solution. Two way coupled fluid-structure interaction simulation is carried out to get the displacement of a square base prism and the result is used to calculate the power produced. A maximum power output of 2.1 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 is predicted at a wind velocity of 12 𝑚𝑚/𝑠𝑠.