Inspired by music-playing harmonicas that create tones via oscillations of reeds when subjected to air blow, this paper entails a concept for microwind power generation using flow-induced self-excited oscillations of a piezoelectric beam embedded within a cavity. Specifically, when the volumetric flow rate of air past the beam exceeds a certain threshold, the energy pumped into the structure via nonlinear pressure forces offsets the system’s intrinsic damping setting the beam into self-sustained limit-cycle oscillations. The vibratory energy is then converted into electricity through principles of piezoelectricity. Experimental and theoretical results are presented demonstrating the feasibility of the proposed concept.

We present and validate a nonlinear aero-electro-mechanical model that describes the response of a scalable self-excited wind energy harvester. Similar to music-playing harmonica that create tones via oscillations of reeds when subjected to air blow, the proposed device uses flow-induced self-excited oscillations of a piezoelectric beam embedded within a cavity to generate electric power. Specifically, when the volumetric flow rate of air past the beam exceeds a certain threshold, the energy pumped into the structure via nonlinear pressure forces offsets the intrinsic damping in the system setting the beam into self-sustained limit-cycle oscillations. The vibratory energy is then converted into electricity through principles of piezoelectricity.