Stability and scalability of piezoelectric flags
Abstract
We investigate the effect of piezoelectric material on the flutter speed, vibration mode and frequency, and energy harvesting power and efficiency of a flexible flag in various fluids. We develop a fully coupled fluid-solid-electric model by combining the inviscid vortex sheet model with a linear electro-mechanical coupling model. A resistance only circuit and a resonant resistance-inductance (RL) circuit are considered. For a purely resistive circuit, an increased electro-mechanical coupling factor results in an increased flutter speed, vibration frequency, averaged electric power, and efficiency. A consistent optimal resistance is found that maximizes the flutter speed and the energy harvesting power. For a resonant RL circuit, by tuning the inductance to match the circuit frequency to the flag’s vibration frequency, the flutter speed can be greatly decreased, and a larger averaged power and efficiency are obtained. We also consider a model scale setup with several commonly used commercial materials for operating in air and water. Typical ranges of dimensionless parameters are obtained for four types of material that span a wide range of solid density and rigidity values. We find that the resistance only circuit is more effective when the flag is placed in a lighter fluid (e.g., air), while the RL circuit is able to reduce the flutter speed when the flag is placed in a heavier fluid (e.g., water).
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Feb 01, 2016
- Source ID
- 10.1063/1.4940990
Entities
People
- Chenyang Li
- Silas Alben
- Xiaolin Wang
- Yin Lu Young
Organizations
- Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
- National Science Foundation Division of Mathematical Sciences
- Office of Naval Research
- University of Michigan