With a continuously growing demand for power, driven by the need to reduce our environmental footprint, this research provides an examination of the potential of energy harvesting with smart materials technology and its practical applications. The energy harvesting system considered here works on generating energy through vibrations of a piezoelectric material beam which will undergo sustained vibrations due to flow of air over its surface. It is assumed that sustained limit cycle oscillations of this system will occur at the flutter velocity. This research creates an optimization framework to obtain the best values of parameters that will result in the minimum flutter velocity for the system. Minimization of flutter velocity may lead to the use of the energy harvesting system at lower air speeds, thus increasing its applicability in multiple low-velocity vehicles/scenarios. The study begins with an in depth explanation of piezoelectricity, its fundamental concepts, operational mechanisms, and various applications. Next, the phenomenon of flutter is explained in detail as it is essential for identifying conditions where vibrations can be harnessed for energy generation. Two codes are developed to determine the flutter speed for both steady and unsteady flows, which are also verified against previous studies, ensuring their accuracy and reliability. Further, several codes are created to optimize the minimum flutter speed, initially focusing on a single parameter, then expanding to two parameters and finally optimizing all four parameters simultaneously. With the last case, the flutter velocity is reduced an 80% from its starting value. So far, to the author’s knowledge, there are not too many works that follow a detailed optimization process of the parameters involved in piezoelectric power generation. This optimization process is particularly significant as it lays a foundation for future studies, enabling a more comprehensive and efficient optimization of energy harvesting systems.
","abstract_html":"<p>With a continuously growing demand for power, driven by the need to reduce our environmental footprint, this research provides an examination of the potential of energy harvesting with smart materials technology and its practical applications. The energy harvesting system considered here works on generating energy through vibrations of a piezoelectric material beam which will undergo sustained vibrations due to flow of air over its surface. It is assumed that sustained limit cycle oscillations of this system will occur at the flutter velocity. This research creates an optimization framework to obtain the best values of parameters that will result in the minimum flutter velocity for the system. Minimization of flutter velocity may lead to the use of the energy harvesting system at lower air speeds, thus increasing its applicability in multiple low-velocity vehicles/scenarios. The study begins with an in depth explanation of piezoelectricity, its fundamental concepts, operational mechanisms, and various applications. Next, the phenomenon of flutter is explained in detail as it is essential for identifying conditions where vibrations can be harnessed for energy generation. Two codes are developed to determine the flutter speed for both steady and unsteady flows, which are also verified against previous studies, ensuring their accuracy and reliability. Further, several codes are created to optimize the minimum flutter speed, initially focusing on a single parameter, then expanding to two parameters and finally optimizing all four parameters simultaneously. With the last case, the flutter velocity is reduced an 80% from its starting value. So far, to the author’s knowledge, there are not too many works that follow a detailed optimization process of the parameters involved in piezoelectric power generation. This optimization process is particularly significant as it lays a foundation for future studies, enabling a more comprehensive and efficient optimization of energy harvesting systems.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Almendros Espantaleon, Jose Manuel"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering","degree_level":"Thesis - Open Access","degree_discipline":"Aerospace Engineering","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2024,"date_issued":"2024-07-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2024-07-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-27T19:26:02Z","subjects":["Optimization","limit cycle oscillations","piezoelectricity","critical velocity","Aerodynamics and Fluid Mechanics","Oil, Gas, and Energy","Structures and Materials"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.erau.edu/edt/831","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Almendros Espantaleon, Jose Manuel"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Aerospace Engineering"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis - Open Access"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Optimization","limit cycle oscillations","piezoelectricity","critical velocity","Aerodynamics and Fluid Mechanics","Oil, Gas, and Energy","Structures and Materials"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.erau.edu/edt/831"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["With a continuously growing demand for power, driven by the need to reduce our environmental footprint, this research provides an examination of the potential of energy harvesting with smart materials technology and its practical applications. The energy harvesting system considered here works on generating energy through vibrations of a piezoelectric material beam which will undergo sustained vibrations due to flow of air over its surface. It is assumed that sustained limit cycle oscillations of this system will occur at the flutter velocity. This research creates an optimization framework to obtain the best values of parameters that will result in the minimum flutter velocity for the system. Minimization of flutter velocity may lead to the use of the energy harvesting system at lower air speeds, thus increasing its applicability in multiple low-velocity vehicles/scenarios. The study begins with an in depth explanation of piezoelectricity, its fundamental concepts, operational mechanisms, and various applications. Next, the phenomenon of flutter is explained in detail as it is essential for identifying conditions where vibrations can be harnessed for energy generation. Two codes are developed to determine the flutter speed for both steady and unsteady flows, which are also verified against previous studies, ensuring their accuracy and reliability. Further, several codes are created to optimize the minimum flutter speed, initially focusing on a single parameter, then expanding to two parameters and finally optimizing all four parameters simultaneously. With the last case, the flutter velocity is reduced an 80% from its starting value. So far, to the author’s knowledge, there are not too many works that follow a detailed optimization process of the parameters involved in piezoelectric power generation. This optimization process is particularly significant as it lays a foundation for future studies, enabling a more comprehensive and efficient optimization of energy harvesting systems.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Optimization of a Plate Beam System for Energy Harvesting Using a Piezoelectric Material"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Almendros Espantaleon, Jose Manuel"],"dc:description.abstract":["With a continuously growing demand for power, driven by the need to reduce our environmental footprint, this research provides an examination of the potential of energy harvesting with smart materials technology and its practical applications. The energy harvesting system considered here works on generating energy through vibrations of a piezoelectric material beam which will undergo sustained vibrations due to flow of air over its surface. It is assumed that sustained limit cycle oscillations of this system will occur at the flutter velocity. This research creates an optimization framework to obtain the best values of parameters that will result in the minimum flutter velocity for the system. Minimization of flutter velocity may lead to the use of the energy harvesting system at lower air speeds, thus increasing its applicability in multiple low-velocity vehicles/scenarios. The study begins with an in depth explanation of piezoelectricity, its fundamental concepts, operational mechanisms, and various applications. Next, the phenomenon of flutter is explained in detail as it is essential for identifying conditions where vibrations can be harnessed for energy generation. Two codes are developed to determine the flutter speed for both steady and unsteady flows, which are also verified against previous studies, ensuring their accuracy and reliability. Further, several codes are created to optimize the minimum flutter speed, initially focusing on a single parameter, then expanding to two parameters and finally optimizing all four parameters simultaneously. With the last case, the flutter velocity is reduced an 80% from its starting value. So far, to the author’s knowledge, there are not too many works that follow a detailed optimization process of the parameters involved in piezoelectric power generation. This optimization process is particularly significant as it lays a foundation for future studies, enabling a more comprehensive and efficient optimization of energy harvesting systems.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://commons.erau.edu/edt/831"],"dc:subject":["Optimization","limit cycle oscillations","piezoelectricity","critical velocity","Aerodynamics and Fluid Mechanics","Oil, Gas, and Energy","Structures and Materials"],"dc:title":["Optimization of a Plate Beam System for Energy Harvesting Using a Piezoelectric Material"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Aerospace Engineering"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis - Open Access"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-27T19:26:02Z"}