Harvesting energy from a flexible flapping membrane in a uniform flow

The flapping dynamics and strain energy distribution of a flexible membrane immersed in a uniform flow is numerically studied. The system is controlled by two main parameters, i.e.the structure-fluid mass ratio (M*) and the reduced flow velocity (U*). Simulation results demonstrate that the membrane exhibits a periodic oscillation with one dominant frequency for a certain range of non-dimensional velocity. Within this range, flapping amplitude increases with U*, and non-uniform strain energy distribution is generated along the membrane. In addition, the maximum available strain energy shows an upward trend with an increasing of U*.