Comparison of modeling methods and parametric study for a piezoelectric wind energy harvester

Abstract

Harvesting flow energy by exploiting transverse galloping of a bluff body attached to a piezoelectric cantilever is a prospective method to power the wireless sensing systems. In order to better understand the electroaeroelastic behavior and further improve the galloping piezoelectric energy harvester (GPEH), an effective analytical model is required, which needs to incorporate both the electromechanical coupling and aerodynamic force. Available electromechanical models for GPEH include lumped parameter single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) model, approximated distributed parameter model based on Rayleigh-Ritz discretization, and distributed parameter model with Euler-Bernoulli beam representation. Each modelling method has its own advantages. The corresponding aerodynamic models are formulated using quasi-steady hypothesis (QSH). In this paper, SDOF model, Euler-Bernoulli distributed parameter model using single mode and Euler-Bernoulli distributed parameter model using multi-modes are compared and validated with experimental results.