A modified airfoil-based piezoaeroelastic energy harvester with double plunge degrees of freedom

AbstractIn this letter, a piezoaeroelastic energy harvester based on an airfoil with double plunge degrees of freedom is proposed to additionally take advantage of the vibrational energy of the airfoil pitch motion. An analytical model of the proposed energy harvesting system is built and compared with an equivalent model using the well-explored pitch-plunge configuration. The dynamic response and average power output of the harvester are numerically studied as the flow velocity exceeds the cut-in speed (flutter speed). It is found that the harvester with double-plunge configuration generates 4%–10% more power with varying flow velocities while reducing 6% of the cut-in speed than its counterpart