Analysis of Double Inverted Flag Energy Harvesting System in Pipe Flow

This technical note numerically and experimentally studies a vibration energy harvester (VEH) consisting of a set of two parallel elastic steel sheets (ESSs) and piezoelectric patches (PZTs) in pipe flow. The roots of the elastic steel sheets are fixed on the base with the PZTs to form a double inverted flag vibration energy harvesting system (DIF-VEHS). In this note, a semi-circular receiving device (receiver) was added to the free end of the elastic steel, and a cylinder was installed upstream to generate a periodic oscillating flow field in the pipeline to obtain better electric energy generation efficiency. This study reveals the effect of different factors on the energy harvesting system, such as the distance between the ESSs, the diameter of the cylinder, etc. This study uses ANSYS software to simulate the fluid–structure interaction vibration of ESSs to determine the feasibility of this design. An experimental setup is then implemented to find the most effective combination of factors for the system. The results of this study show that with all parameters configured properly, the electric energy generation reaches a maximum average value of 1.6657 V per minute. In the future, such devices could be installed in sewers, pipes or rivers, allowing the flow energy of the fluid to be recycled to generate more energy.