Nonlinear characterization of concurrent energy harvesting from galloping and base excitations

An energy harvester is proposed to concurrently harness energy from base and galloping excitations. This harvester consists of a triangular cross-sectional tip mass attached to a multilayered piezoelectric cantilever beam and placed in an incompressible flow and subjected to a harmonic base excitation in the cross-flow direction. A coupled nonlinear-distributed-parameter model is developed representing the dynamics of the transverse degree of freedom and the generated voltage. The galloping force and moment are modeled by using a nonlinear quasi-steady approximation. Under combined loadings and when the excitation frequency is away from the global natural frequency of the harvester, the response of the harvester mainly contains these two harmonic frequencies. Thus, the harvester’s response is generally aperiodic and is either periodic with large period (i.e., period- \(n\) ), or quasi-periodic, or chaotic. To characterize the harvester’s response under a combination of vibratory base excitations and aerodynamic loading, we use modern methods of nonlinear dynamics, such as phase portraits, power spectra, and Poincaré sections. A further analysis is then performed to determine the effects of the wind speed, frequency excitation, base acceleration, and electrical load resistance on the performance of the harvester under separate loadings.