Finite wing effects on the energy harvesting from stall-induced oscillations

Abstract

The modeling of aeroelastic harvesters usually employs methods for two-dimensional aerodynamics. Such convenient practice reflects the lack in the literature of efficient tools with low computational cost to assess unsteady and nonlinear aerodynamics loads accounting for three-dimensional wing effects. In this sense, the present work aims to fulfill this gap by developing a nonlinear unsteady lifting line to investigate finite wing effects on the power generation from stall-induced oscillations. The aerodynamic model links the Beddoes–Leishman dynamic stall method to a linear unsteady lifting line. The optimization of energy harvesters from stall-induced pitching oscillations is revisited considering the three-dimensional aerodynamic model. Results reveal that the three-dimensional harvester’s dynamic behavior may differ from the two-dimensional case, and the harvested power reduction is observed.