Experimental Investigation of Flow-Induced Motion and Energy Conversion of a T-Section Prism

Nan Shao, Jijian Lian, Guobin Xu, Fang Liu, Heng Deng, Quanchao Ren and Xiang Yan
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Nan Shao: State Key Laboratory of Hydraulic Engineering Simulation and Safety, Tianjin University, No. 92, Wei Jin Road, Nan Kai District, Tianjin 300072, China
Jijian Lian: State Key Laboratory of Hydraulic Engineering Simulation and Safety, Tianjin University, No. 92, Wei Jin Road, Nan Kai District, Tianjin 300072, China
Guobin Xu: State Key Laboratory of Hydraulic Engineering Simulation and Safety, Tianjin University, No. 92, Wei Jin Road, Nan Kai District, Tianjin 300072, China
Fang Liu: State Key Laboratory of Hydraulic Engineering Simulation and Safety, Tianjin University, No. 92, Wei Jin Road, Nan Kai District, Tianjin 300072, China
Heng Deng: State Key Laboratory of Hydraulic Engineering Simulation and Safety, Tianjin University, No. 92, Wei Jin Road, Nan Kai District, Tianjin 300072, China
Quanchao Ren: State Key Laboratory of Hydraulic Engineering Simulation and Safety, Tianjin University, No. 92, Wei Jin Road, Nan Kai District, Tianjin 300072, China
Xiang Yan: State Key Laboratory of Hydraulic Engineering Simulation and Safety, Tianjin University, No. 92, Wei Jin Road, Nan Kai District, Tianjin 300072, China

Energies, 2018, vol. 11, issue 8, 1-23

Abstract: Flow-induced motion (FIM) performs well in energy conversion but has been barely investigated, particularly for prisms with sharp sections. Previous studies have proven that T-section prisms that undergo galloping branches with high amplitude are beneficial to energy conversions. The FIM experimental setup designed by Tianjin University (TJU) was improved to conduct a series of FIM responses and energy conversion tests on a T-section prism. Experimental results are presented and discussed, to reveal the complete FIM responses and power generation characteristics of the T-section prism under different load resistances and section aspect ratios. The main findings are summarized as follows. (1) Hard galloping (HG), soft galloping (SG), and critical galloping (CG) can be observed by varying load resistances. When the load resistances are low, HG occurs; otherwise, SG occurs. (2) In the galloping branch, the highest amplitude and the most stable oscillation cause high-quality electrical energy production by the generator. Therefore, the galloping branch is the best branch for harvesting energy. (3) In the galloping branch, as the load resistances decrease, the active power continually increases until the prism is suppressed from galloping to a vortex-induced vibration (VIV) lower branch with a maximum active power P harn of 21.23 W and a maximum η out of 20.2%. (4) Different section aspect ratios ( α ) can significantly influence the FIM responses and energy conversions of the T-section prism. For small aspect ratios, galloping is hardly observed in the complete responses, but the power generation efficiency ( η out ,0.8 = 27.44%) becomes larger in the galloping branch.

Keywords: flow-induced motion; sharp sections; T-section prism; load resistances; section aspect ratios; energy conversion (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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