Fluid-solid-electric energy transport along piezoelectric flags

TL;DR

This paper investigates the fluid-solid-electric interactions in a flexible piezoelectric plate in axial flow, analyzing energy harvesting efficiency and the influence of electrical impedance on energy transfer.

Contribution

It introduces a reduced-order model for fluid-structure-electrical interactions in piezoelectric flags, highlighting the effects of internal and external impedance on energy harvesting.

Findings

Fluid-solid instability leads to large amplitude flapping.

Internal electrical network converts deformation into electrical energy.

Impedance matching affects energy transfer efficiency.

Abstract

The fluid-solid-electric dynamics of a flexible plate covered by interconnected piezoelectric patches in an axial steady flow are investigated using numerical simulations based on a reduced-order model of the fluid loading for slender structures. Beyond a critical flow velocity, the fluid-solid instability results in large amplitude flapping of the structure. Short piezoelectric patches positioned continuously along the plate convert its local deformation into electrical currents that are used within a single internal electrical network acting as an electric generator for the external output circuit. The relative role of the internal and external impedance on the energy harvesting of the system is presented and analyzed in the light of a full modeling of the electric and mechanical energy exchanges and transport along the structure.