Improving piezoelectric wind energy harvesting performance with snowflake-shaped bluff bodies
Improving piezoelectric wind energy harvesting performance with snowflake-shaped bluff bodies
Inspired by the morphology of Koch snowflakes, this study proposes a series of bluff bodies to enhance the performance of piezoelectric wind energy harvester (PWEH). Four snow-shaped sectional bluff bodies are designed: pentagon, hexagon, heptagon, and octagon. A distributed model is developed based on the extended Hamilton's for evaluating the dynamic response. Numerical simulation and wind tunnel experiments are conducted for verifying the theoretical model. The effect of inertial and windward angles: the Apex (denoted as A) and the Bident (denoted as B) are examined. Theoretical modeling, wind tunnel experiments, and three-dimensional (3D) vortex simulations are conducted to understand the dynamic response and reveal the underlying physical mechanisms. The experimental results indicate that the lock-in region was extended by 66.67 % for Pent (A) and by 33.33 % for Hept (B) compared with the cylinder. Additionally, the Am-Hex (A), Hex (A), Am-Hept (A), Hept (A), Am-Oct (B), and Oct (B) facilitate a transition from vortex-induced vibration (VIV) to galloping. Furthermore, the maximum power densities of wind energy harvesters with Pent (A), Hex (A), and Hept (B) surpass those with the cylinder by 257.93 %, 406.47 %, and 81.28 %, respectively. Three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (3D-CFD) is used to analyze fluid-structure interaction mechanism of various snowflake-shaped bluff bodies. It is shown that different snowflake-shaped bluff bodies could affect the flow field characteristics and aerodynamic layout. Additionally, the capability of PWEH with a snowflake-shaped bluff to provide power for low-power electronics has been demonstrated through application testing.
Flow-induced vibration, Piezoelectric wind energy harvester (PWEH), Snowflake-shaped bluff body, Three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (3D-CFD)
Li, Haitao
fb97792b-c451-4886-9f27-ca5a76ff46f1
Zheng, Tianyu
ac3c187c-534b-4a80-99fe-be60cbe2c404
Ren, He
89052dbc-457f-4c77-b9c0-01ff5b374e92
Shen, Haoting
09d4e761-81ea-4376-ae58-38abd4d5ad28
Diao, Binbin
c9c2ae9c-d4f9-4b21-885c-1c1d53b05ef3
Han, Wenju
7630df1e-f33a-43f8-86ad-4496fb3d0567
Qin, Weiyang
3d9216e4-d29e-4515-9bc0-44d6d4447492
Yurchenko, Daniil
51a2896b-281e-4977-bb72-5f96e891fbf8
Ding, Hu
6c9b387a-ef27-4b09-8df9-e0332f3f7136
Chen, Liqun
a2e8d27f-3b98-4096-a57a-d02711d0b222
16 April 2025
Li, Haitao
fb97792b-c451-4886-9f27-ca5a76ff46f1
Zheng, Tianyu
ac3c187c-534b-4a80-99fe-be60cbe2c404
Ren, He
89052dbc-457f-4c77-b9c0-01ff5b374e92
Shen, Haoting
09d4e761-81ea-4376-ae58-38abd4d5ad28
Diao, Binbin
c9c2ae9c-d4f9-4b21-885c-1c1d53b05ef3
Han, Wenju
7630df1e-f33a-43f8-86ad-4496fb3d0567
Qin, Weiyang
3d9216e4-d29e-4515-9bc0-44d6d4447492
Yurchenko, Daniil
51a2896b-281e-4977-bb72-5f96e891fbf8
Ding, Hu
6c9b387a-ef27-4b09-8df9-e0332f3f7136
Chen, Liqun
a2e8d27f-3b98-4096-a57a-d02711d0b222
Li, Haitao, Zheng, Tianyu, Ren, He, Shen, Haoting, Diao, Binbin, Han, Wenju, Qin, Weiyang, Yurchenko, Daniil, Ding, Hu and Chen, Liqun
(2025)
Improving piezoelectric wind energy harvesting performance with snowflake-shaped bluff bodies.
International Journal of Mechanical Sciences, 294, [110244].
(doi:10.1016/j.ijmecsci.2025.110244).
Abstract
Inspired by the morphology of Koch snowflakes, this study proposes a series of bluff bodies to enhance the performance of piezoelectric wind energy harvester (PWEH). Four snow-shaped sectional bluff bodies are designed: pentagon, hexagon, heptagon, and octagon. A distributed model is developed based on the extended Hamilton's for evaluating the dynamic response. Numerical simulation and wind tunnel experiments are conducted for verifying the theoretical model. The effect of inertial and windward angles: the Apex (denoted as A) and the Bident (denoted as B) are examined. Theoretical modeling, wind tunnel experiments, and three-dimensional (3D) vortex simulations are conducted to understand the dynamic response and reveal the underlying physical mechanisms. The experimental results indicate that the lock-in region was extended by 66.67 % for Pent (A) and by 33.33 % for Hept (B) compared with the cylinder. Additionally, the Am-Hex (A), Hex (A), Am-Hept (A), Hept (A), Am-Oct (B), and Oct (B) facilitate a transition from vortex-induced vibration (VIV) to galloping. Furthermore, the maximum power densities of wind energy harvesters with Pent (A), Hex (A), and Hept (B) surpass those with the cylinder by 257.93 %, 406.47 %, and 81.28 %, respectively. Three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (3D-CFD) is used to analyze fluid-structure interaction mechanism of various snowflake-shaped bluff bodies. It is shown that different snowflake-shaped bluff bodies could affect the flow field characteristics and aerodynamic layout. Additionally, the capability of PWEH with a snowflake-shaped bluff to provide power for low-power electronics has been demonstrated through application testing.
Text
Fractals_ijms_snwoflake
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Accepted/In Press date: 7 April 2025
e-pub ahead of print date: 11 April 2025
Published date: 16 April 2025
Keywords:
Flow-induced vibration, Piezoelectric wind energy harvester (PWEH), Snowflake-shaped bluff body, Three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (3D-CFD)
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 502636
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/502636
ISSN: 0020-7403
PURE UUID: be3325ec-dd64-4651-afc7-4ddaf2ab6b6c
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Date deposited: 02 Jul 2025 16:58
Last modified: 22 Aug 2025 02:34
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Contributors
Author:
Haitao Li
Author:
Tianyu Zheng
Author:
He Ren
Author:
Haoting Shen
Author:
Binbin Diao
Author:
Wenju Han
Author:
Weiyang Qin
Author:
Daniil Yurchenko
Author:
Hu Ding
Author:
Liqun Chen
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