An Analysis of Micro Aeroelastic Energy Harvesting Devices

New micro renewable energy harvesting devices are being developed using the stable limit cycle response of aeroelastic systems to drive energy conversion. This paper analyzes such devices. This paper investigates devices that use two types of aeroelastic instability: galloping and multi-mode flutter. Since the generation of power can be stabilizing, resulting in no power generation at all, the analysis begins by analyzing the stability of such devices from the perspective of power generation. Next, the level of power generation is discussed, and peak levels of performance are found. The analysis suggests that with proper tuning the power generation of micro aeroelastic energy harvesters operating at representative speeds (∼4.5 m/s (10 mph)) can produce power on the order of 10 mW.