Mechanical durability assessment of an energy-harvesting piezoelectric inverted flag

TY - JOUR

T1 - Mechanical durability assessment of an energy-harvesting piezoelectric inverted flag

AU - Yang, Kaidong

AU - Cioncolini, Andrea

AU - Nabawy, Mostafa R.A.

AU - Revell, Alistair

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

PY - 2022/1/1

Y1 - 2022/1/1

N2 - This paper presents results from a practical assessment of the endurance of an inverted flag energy harvester, tested over multiple days in a wind tunnel to provide first insights into flapping fatigue and failure. The inverted flag is a composite bimorph, composed of PVDF (polyvinylidene difluoride) strips combined with a passive metallic core to provide sufficient stiffness. The flag, derived from an earlier, more extensive study, flaps with a typical amplitude of ~120 degrees and a frequency of ~2 Hz, generating a constant power of ~0.09 mW in a wind velocity of 6 m/s. The flag was observed to complete ~5 × 105 cycles before failure, corresponding to ~70 h of operation. The energy generated over this lifespan is estimated to be sufficient to power a standard low-power temperature sensor for several months at a sampling rate of one sample/minute, which would be adequate for applications such as wildfire detection, environmental monitoring, and agriculture management. This study indicates that structural fatigue may present a practical obstacle to the wider development of this technology, particularly in the context of their usual justification as a ‘deploy and forget’ alternative to battery power. Further work is required to improve the fatigue resistance of the flag material.

AB - This paper presents results from a practical assessment of the endurance of an inverted flag energy harvester, tested over multiple days in a wind tunnel to provide first insights into flapping fatigue and failure. The inverted flag is a composite bimorph, composed of PVDF (polyvinylidene difluoride) strips combined with a passive metallic core to provide sufficient stiffness. The flag, derived from an earlier, more extensive study, flaps with a typical amplitude of ~120 degrees and a frequency of ~2 Hz, generating a constant power of ~0.09 mW in a wind velocity of 6 m/s. The flag was observed to complete ~5 × 105 cycles before failure, corresponding to ~70 h of operation. The energy generated over this lifespan is estimated to be sufficient to power a standard low-power temperature sensor for several months at a sampling rate of one sample/minute, which would be adequate for applications such as wildfire detection, environmental monitoring, and agriculture management. This study indicates that structural fatigue may present a practical obstacle to the wider development of this technology, particularly in the context of their usual justification as a ‘deploy and forget’ alternative to battery power. Further work is required to improve the fatigue resistance of the flag material.

KW - Durability

KW - Energy harvesting

KW - Experiment

KW - Fatigue

KW - Inverted flag

KW - PVDF

KW - Piezoelectric

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85121737794&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.3390/en15010077

DO - 10.3390/en15010077

M3 - 文章

AN - SCOPUS:85121737794

SN - 1996-1073

VL - 15

JO - Energies

JF - Energies

IS - 1

M1 - 77

ER -