Bio-inspired energy harvesting for sensors from unsteady fluid flow

Abstract

This thesis investigates the development of a bio‐inspired method of recovering energy from unsteady flow with the specific application of powering sensors in remote areas. It has long been understood that fish, through altering their mode of swimming to interact with naturally produced vortices, conserving energy and in certain instances extracting energy from the flow. The current study examines the interaction that exists between vortices shed from a bluff body and a flexible cylinder tethered downstream. It has been found that it is possible to synchronise the motion of the flexible cylinder with the unsteady flow and exhibit a motion similar to that of a trout swimming with a Von Kármán gait. Vibrational characteristics of the flexible cylinder were examined and verified using theoretical, experimental and computational approaches. An extensive discussion concerning all the experimental and computational analysis is included. The first significant output from this research is the three-dimensional, two-way coupled, fluid-structure interactions model which provides detailed insight into the behaviour of both the fluid and structural response. The second is an in-house manufactured piezoelectric device integrated into the flexible cylinder. It was found that there is the potential to harvest energy from this fluid-structure interaction system. In cases where the energy is of a very small magnitude, the system has shown that it can behave as a sensor, able to give characteristics of the flow through interaction with the flexible cylinder.

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