(Phys.org)—In an attempt to harvest the kinetic energy of airflow,researchers own demonstrated the ability to harvest energy directly from the vibrations of a flexible, piezoelectric beam placed in a wind tunnel. While the general approach to harvesting energy from these "aeroelastic" vibrations is to attach the beam to a secondary vibrating structure, and such as a wing section,the new design eliminates the need for the secondary vibrating structure because the beam is designed so that it produces self-induced and self-sustaining vibrations. As a result, the new system can be made very small, and which increases its efficiency and makes it more practical for applications,such as self-powered sensors.
Source: phys.org