Energy Harvesting Using Electroelastic Dynamical Systems

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department Seminar Series, Fall 2012

Dr. Alper Erturk
Assistant Professor
G. W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering
Georgia Institue of Technology

The transformation of vibrations into low-power electricity has received growing attention over the last decade. The goal in this research field is to enable self-powered electronic components by harvesting the mechanical energy available in their environment. Among the existing transduction mechanisms that can be used for mechanical-to-electrical energy conversion, piezoelectric transduction has been most heavily researched due to the high power density and ease of application of piezoelectric materials. This talk will be focused on linear and nonlinear energy harvesting using piezoelectric materials through the topics of distributed-parameter electroelastic dynamics of energy harvesters, performance enhancement by exploiting nonlinear dynamic phenomena, deterministic and stochastic excitation of bistable configurations, effects of dissipative and inherent electroelastic nonlinearities, electroaeroelastic flow energy harvesting using airfoil-based configurations and recent efforts on harvesting the energy of structure-borne propagating waves. If time permits, a brief summary of our efforts on fiber-based flexible piezoelectric composites will be presented for the multifunctional applications of underwater energy harvesting and locomotion, in-air bending-twisting actuation and active stiffness change. Click here to view the announcement.

Biosketch

Dr. Alper Erturk is an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology. His research background covers various topics in structural dynamics, mechanical vibrations, smart materials and electromechanical systems. He has published more than 70 articles in refereed international journals and conference proceedings and a book titled Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting. He is the chair of the ASME Energy Harvesting Technical Committee, an elected member of the ASME Technical Committee on Adaptive Structures and Material Systems under the Aerospace Division and the ASME Technical Committee on Vibration and Sound under the Design Engineering Division and also a member of the following professional societies: ASME, AIAA, IEEE, SPIE and SEM. Dr. Erturk received his Ph.D. in Engineering Mechanics from Virginia Tech in 2009 and M.S. and B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from METU, Ankara, Turkey in 2006 and 2004, respectively.