An experimental and computational study on inverted flag dynamics for simultaneous wind-solar energy harvesting

TY - JOUR

T1 - An experimental and computational study on inverted flag dynamics for simultaneous wind-solar energy harvesting

AU - Cioncolini, Andrea

AU - Nabawy, Mostafa R.A.

AU - Silva-Leon, Jorge

AU - O'Connor, Joseph

AU - Revell, Alistair

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

PY - 2019/6

Y1 - 2019/6

N2 - This paper presents results from experiments and simplified numerical simulations on the flow-induced dynamics and power generation of inverted flags that combine flexible piezoelectric strips with photovoltaic cells to simultaneously harvest kinetic wind energy and solar radiant energy. Experiments were conducted in a wind tunnel under controlled wind excitation and light exposure, focusing in particular on the dynamics and power generation of the inverted flag harvester. Numerical simulations were carried out using a lattice-Boltzmann fluid solver coupled with a finite element structural solver via the immersed-boundary method, focusing in particular on minimizing the simulation run time. The power generated during the tests shows that the proposed inverted flag harvester is a promising concept, capable of producing enough power (on the order of 1 mW) to supply low-power electronic devices in a range of applications where distributed power generation is needed. Notwithstanding key simplifications implemented in the numerical model to achieve a fast execution, simulations and measurements are in good agreement, confirming that the lattice-Boltzmann method is a viable and time-effective alternative to classic Navier-Stokes-based solvers when dealing with strongly coupled fluid-structure interaction problems characterized by large structural displacements.

AB - This paper presents results from experiments and simplified numerical simulations on the flow-induced dynamics and power generation of inverted flags that combine flexible piezoelectric strips with photovoltaic cells to simultaneously harvest kinetic wind energy and solar radiant energy. Experiments were conducted in a wind tunnel under controlled wind excitation and light exposure, focusing in particular on the dynamics and power generation of the inverted flag harvester. Numerical simulations were carried out using a lattice-Boltzmann fluid solver coupled with a finite element structural solver via the immersed-boundary method, focusing in particular on minimizing the simulation run time. The power generated during the tests shows that the proposed inverted flag harvester is a promising concept, capable of producing enough power (on the order of 1 mW) to supply low-power electronic devices in a range of applications where distributed power generation is needed. Notwithstanding key simplifications implemented in the numerical model to achieve a fast execution, simulations and measurements are in good agreement, confirming that the lattice-Boltzmann method is a viable and time-effective alternative to classic Navier-Stokes-based solvers when dealing with strongly coupled fluid-structure interaction problems characterized by large structural displacements.

KW - Energy harvesting

KW - Experiment

KW - Flexible structure

KW - Fluid-structure interaction

KW - Inverted flag

KW - Lattice Boltzmann

KW - Simulation

KW - Solar energy

KW - Wind energy

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85069788970&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.3390/fluids4020087

DO - 10.3390/fluids4020087

M3 - 文章

AN - SCOPUS:85069788970

SN - 2311-5521

VL - 4

JO - Fluids

JF - Fluids

IS - 2

M1 - 87

ER -