INVESTIGATION OF VORTEX-INDUCED SWING CHARACTERISTICS AND ENERGY HARVESTING EFFICIENCY OF BLADELESS WIND TURBINES WITH NONLINEAR DAMPING

Xu Shan; Gong Shuguang; Liu Qiliang; Xie Guilan; Liang Zhiwei

doi:10.19912/j.0254-0096.tynxb.2025-0472

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Acta Energiae Solaris Sinica ›› 2026, Vol. 47 ›› Issue (7) : 240-249. DOI: 10.19912/j.0254-0096.tynxb.2025-0472

INVESTIGATION OF VORTEX-INDUCED SWING CHARACTERISTICS AND ENERGY HARVESTING EFFICIENCY OF BLADELESS WIND TURBINES WITH NONLINEAR DAMPING

Xu Shan^1,2, Gong Shuguang¹, Liu Qiliang¹, Xie Guilan¹, Liang Zhiwei¹

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Abstract

Bladeless wind turbines convert harvested wind energy into electricity through load damping. To enhance the energy harvesting efficiency of the system, an angular-velocity-proportional damping model is proposed, based on the nonlinear characteristics of vortex-induced vibration （VIV）. This model includes two control parameters： the preset maximum damping ratio and the model exponent. The governing equations of the energy harvesting system with nonlinear damping and the efficiency calculation formula are derived. A numerical study is performed to analyze the influence of the control parameters on the VIV characteristics of the energy harvesting cylinder and the system's energy harvesting efficiency. The results indicate that under the design wind speed, when the model exponent is greater than zero, the lateral oscillation amplitude of the energy harvesting cylinder gradually increases while the oscillation frequency decreases, but remains close to the system’s natural frequency. All cases exhibit a distinct "single-peak" characteristic. For different combinations of control parameters, the energy harvesting cylinder demonstrates a "dual-frequency" resonance in its VIV response, with trajectories forming "figure-eight" patterns. With a preset maximum damping ratio of 0.03 and model exponent values of 0.5, 1.0, and 2.5, or with a preset maximum damping ratio of 0.04 and exponent of 2.5, a significant improvement in the system’s energy harvesting efficiency is observed. Particularly, when the preset maximum damping ratio is 0.03 and the model exponent is 2.5, the system’s energy harvesting efficiency increases by 43.91% compared to the constant damping model.

Key words

vortex-induced vibration / nonlinear damping / numerical analysis / bladeless wind turbine / energy harvesting efficiency

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Xu Shan, Gong Shuguang, Liu Qiliang, Xie Guilan, Liang Zhiwei. INVESTIGATION OF VORTEX-INDUCED SWING CHARACTERISTICS AND ENERGY HARVESTING EFFICIENCY OF BLADELESS WIND TURBINES WITH NONLINEAR DAMPING[J]. Acta Energiae Solaris Sinica. 2026, 47(7): 240-249 https://doi.org/10.19912/j.0254-0096.tynxb.2025-0472

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