RESEARCH PAPER
Piezoelectric cantilever bluff body energy harvesting by vortex-induced vibration in a low-speed open wind tunnel
 
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1
Department of Automation, Lublin University of Technology, Poland
 
2
Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Bialystok University of Technology, Poland
 
3
Department of Thermal and Energy Engineering, Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), India
 
These authors had equal contribution to this work
 
 
Submission date: 2025-10-13
 
 
Final revision date: 2026-02-11
 
 
Acceptance date: 2026-03-02
 
 
Publication date: 2026-06-05
 
 
Corresponding author
Piotr Krzysztof WOLSZCZAK   

Department of Automation, Lublin University of Technology, Nadbystrzycka 36/730, 20-618, Lublin, Poland
 
 
Acta Mechanica et Automatica 2026;20(2):331-342
 
HIGHLIGHTS
  • experimental results
  • 3 types of bluff-bodies on a PZT beam
  • sweep of air velocity
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
This study presents research on wind-induced vibration energy harvesting (WIVEH) systems, focusing on those consisting of a flexible beam with piezoelectric transducers (PZT) coupled with a bluff-body geometries in a low-speed open wind tunnel. Three configurations were examined: a single cylinder, two cylinders connected by a flat wall, and a cylinder-cuboid hybrid. Continuous wavelet transform (CWT) analysis and statistical evaluation of beam deflections were employed to assess vibration characteristics, frequency content, and voltage output across air velocities from 3.5 to 15 m/s. Physical experiments are performed to compare the performance of systems with different configurations of bluff-body shape and to check the agreement of mathematical model results with empirical data. Investigation demonstrates the role of nonlinear aerodynamic excitation mechanisms of the vortex-induced vibrations (VIV), galloping, and fluttering effects. The influence of design parameters and discuss the challenges in modelling complex fluid-structure interactions with piezoelectric. Results show that bluff body geometry strongly influences beam vibration amplitude, frequency content, and energy harvesting efficiency. The two cylinders configuration exhibited the highest vibration amplitudes, with an 89%, and maximum energy output (~140 μW/cm³), increase in variability relative to the single cylinder, but at the cost of excessive oscillations beyond 10 m/s, compromising structural stability. The single-cylinder configuration showed moderate and predictable behavior with exponential voltage growth (~75 μW/cm³), while the cylinder–cuboid hybrid achieved the most robust performance, with 15% lower variability growth compared to the single cylinder and stable operation above 15 m/s. These findings confirm that geometry-driven flow–structure interactions determine the balance between harvested power and operational safety. The results indicate that while two-cylinder configurations may be effective for controlled low-speed applications such as heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) ducts, the cylinder-cuboid hybrid is better suited for broadband, variable-speed environments powering internet of things (IoT) devices and wireless sensors.
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eISSN:2300-5319
ISSN:1898-4088
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