Miniature energy harvesting devices are increasingly used in various fields.For example, Wireless Sensor Networks have recently made great progress in many applications.However, their main drawback, i.e.the limited duration of operation, poses the requirement for an effective way to recharge their batteries.
In this context, the presentwork focuses on the study of micro-energy harvesting from flow by lightemupsequences.com exploiting vortex shedding behind bluff bodies, in order to cause oscillations to a piezoelectric film and generate the required electrical power.To this end, a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) tool is validated on a particular miniature device configuration proposed in the literature and implemented for the numerical simulations of flow around bluff micro-bodies in a very small channel.Aiming to enhance vortex shedding, parametric studies corresponding to different bluff rawafricaonline.com body shapes and arrangements for a fixed Reynolds number are performed, the main parameters involved in the phenomenon are highlighted and the potential for vortex shedding exploitation is qualitatively assessed.