Short communicationStability analysis on an aeroelastic system for design of a flutter energy harvester

A linear stability analysis is carried out on a coupled mechanical system with possible applications in the design of an energy harvester. The system consists of a thin plate and a flap connected at the tip of the plate with a hinge. The fluid-structure interaction model is built using unsteady vortex lattice method (UVLM) and beam theory. The dependence of cut-in wind velocity with the geometrical design of the thin plate or the flap is discussed. The results of stability analysis are also validated by wind tunnel tests. The results indicate that the cut-in wind velocity decreases as the aspect ratio of the thin plate (c1/b1) increases and it decreases faster at low aspect ratios. Wider flap (larger b2) can help further decrease the cut-in wind velocity, while longer flap (larger c2) does not help. Post-critical oscillation of this system is also measured in the wind tunnel tests.