Resonance-induced enhancement of the energy harvesting performance of piezoelectric flags

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that resonance between a piezoelectric flag's flapping motion and a resonant circuit significantly enhances energy harvesting efficiency, validated through experiments and nonlinear simulations.

Contribution

It introduces a combined experimental and numerical analysis of resonance effects on piezoelectric energy harvesting from fluid flow.

Findings

Resonance increases harvested energy substantially.

Experimental results match nonlinear numerical model.

Resonant circuit design improves energy harvesting performance.

Abstract

The spontaneous flapping of a flag can be used to produce electrical energy from a fluid flow when coupled to a generator. In this paper, the energy harvesting performance of a flag covered by a single pair of PVDF piezoelectric electrodes is studied both experimentally and numerically. The electrodes are connected to a resistive-inductive circuit that forms a resonant circuit with the piezoelectric's intrinsic capacitance. Compared with purely resistive circuits, the resonance between the circuit and the flag's flapping motion leads to a significant increase in the harvested energy. Our experimental study also validates our fluid-solid-electric nonlinear numerical model.