Fluid Flow Based Micro Energy Harvester Optimization

In this study an optimization procedure for the design of a piezo-electric Micro-Harvester device is proposed. The device is simulated to analyze the interaction of the fluid with a deformable piezo-electric cantilever. A fixed D-shaped bluff body is used to generate flow deviation, resulting in a mechanical deformation on the micro-cantilever. A novel geometric parameterization is proposed to find the maximum performance of the harvester for a fixed velocity of the flow. The optimized cross section shape is compared with the results of the standard D-shape used in the literature, showing an increase of 55% of voltage with respect to the results in literature.