Numerical Simulation Study on Flow-induced Vibration Energy Harvesting Characteristics of Piezoelectric Energy Harvester with Elliptical Cylinder Bluff-body

Authors

• Jiechao Lei, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Mechanics, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650500, China
• Long Li, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Mechanics, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650500, China
• Ji Yao, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Mechanics, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650500, China

Abstract

Abstract: To improve the self-powering efficiency of miniature internet of things devices, this paper establishes a fluid-structure-electric multi-field coupled computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model based on the ANSYS Fluent platform. It conducts a numerical simulation study on the flow-induced vibration energy harvesting characteristics of a piezoelectric cantilever beam energy harvester with an elliptical cylinder bluff-body. A systematic analysis is performed on the influence mechanism of flow velocity within the range of 0.1~0.5 m/s on the output power. The results indicate that the output power of the harvester exhibits phased growth with increasing flow velocity. In the range below 0.15 m/s, significant vibration is absent, resulting in nearly zero output power. Within the 0.2~0.25 m/s interval, where the vibration frequency does not reach the resonance frequency, the power changes gradually. At velocities greater than 0.25 m/s, structural resonance occurs, triggering galloping, where a sharp increase in amplitude drives a substantial boost in power. Under the same Reynolds number (Re=3 250), the elliptical cylinder bluff-body demonstrates a nearly 20-fold improvement in power density compared to the circular cylinder bluff-body.

Recommended Citation

Lei, Jiechao; Li, Long; and Yao, Ji (2026) "Numerical Simulation Study on Flow-induced Vibration Energy Harvesting Characteristics of Piezoelectric Energy Harvester with Elliptical Cylinder Bluff-body," Journal of System Simulation: Vol. 38: Iss. 9, Article 16.
DOI: 10.16182/j.issn1004731x.joss.25-1051
Available at: https://dc-china-simulation.researchcommons.org/journal/vol38/iss9/16

First Page

2676

Last Page

2685

CLC

TP391.9; TM619

Recommended Citation

Lei Jiechao, Li Long, Yao Ji. Numerical Simulation Study on Flow-induced Vibration Energy Harvesting Characteristics of Piezoelectric Energy Harvester with Elliptical Cylinder Bluff-body[J]. Journal of System Simulation, 2026, 38(9): 2676-2685.

Corresponding Author

Yao Ji

DOI

10.16182/j.issn1004731x.joss.25-1051