Mechanical Feasibility of Airfoil Shaped Energy Harvesting Device Based on Aerodynamic Instability Phenomena

Unsteady aerodynamic forces generally have been treated as subjects to avoid or control. However, more energy resources could be gained if humans could use the unsteady aerodynamic force that can destroy massive structures.

In this paper, an energy harvesting device was proposed using the flutter phenomenon, which is one of the phenomena of aerodynamic instability. Unlike existing flutter-based energy harvesting devices, the proposed device can be operated regardless of wind direction. A prototype was developed for a performance evaluation in a wind tunnel, and displacement measurements were taken over varying wind speeds.