Microwatt Energy Harvesting by Exploiting Flow-Induced Vibration

Zinnyrah Methal; Mohamed Sukri Mat Ali; Nurshafinaz Mohd Maruai; Rasli Abd Ghani

Authors

Zinnyrah Methal Department of Mechanical Precision Engineering, Faculty of Malaysia-Japan International Institute of Technology (MJIIT), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 54100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Mohamed Sukri Mat Ali Department of Mechanical Precision Engineering, Faculty of Malaysia-Japan International Institute of Technology (MJIIT), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 54100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Nurshafinaz Mohd Maruai Department of Mechanical Precision Engineering, Faculty of Malaysia-Japan International Institute of Technology (MJIIT), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 54100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Rasli Abd Ghani Department of Electronic System Engineering(ESE), Faculty of Malaysia-Japan International Institute of Technology (MJIIT), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 54100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Keywords:

Square cylinder, Green technology , Flow-induced vibration , Energy harvesting

Abstract

The green technology approaches by harvesting energy from aerodynamic flow-induced vibrations using a flexible square cylinder is experimentally investigated. The practicability of flow-induced vibration system to supply a sufficient base excitation vibration in microwatt scale is evaluated through a series of wind tunnel tests with different velocities. Test are performed for high Reynolds number 3.9 x 10≤ Re 1.4 x 10 and damping ratio ζ = 0.0052. The experiment setup is able to replicate the pattern of vibration amplitude for isolated square cylinder with previous available study. Then, the experimental setup is used to study the effect of vibration cylinder in harvesting the fluid energy. A prototype of electromagnetic energy harvesting is invented and fabricated to test its performance in the wind tunnel test. Test results reveal that the harnessed power is corresponding to vibration amplitude flow pattern, but the power obtained is much lower than the vibration amplitude due to the power dissipation at the resistor. The best condition for harnessing power is identified at U = 7.7 where the Karman Vortex-Induced Vibration (KVIV) is the largest.