Mechanic of Advanced and Smart Materials
Quarterly

Experimental Analysis of Flow-Induced Vibrations and Energy Harvesting in a Wind Tunnel Using Tree Leaf-Inspired Geometries

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Amir Hossein Rabiee 1
Ali yousefi 2
Mostafa Esmaeili 3

1 School of Mechanical Engineering, Arak University of Technology, Arak, Iran

2 School of Mechanical Engineering, Arak University of Technology, Arak, 38181-41167, Iran

3 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Kharazmi University, Tehran, 15719-14911, Iran

10.61882/masm.4.4.684.
Abstract
This research explores the potential of biomimetic geometries derived from natural leaf shapes to study flow-induced vibrations (FIV) and energy harvesting through experiments in a wind tunnel. Five real tree leaves (grape, fig, silver maple, hawthorn, and Norway maple) were selected, their 2D profiles extracted, and converted into physical test models. Each model was mounted on a flexible beam inside a wind tunnel and equipped with piezoelectric strips to measure electrical signals generated from oscillations. Simultaneously, a high-speed camera tracked the transverse displacement of each model throughout the test. Among all cases, the fig leaf geometry exhibited the highest vibration amplitude and frequency stability, resulting in the maximum harvested power. The grape leaf followed in performance, combining strong vibration responses with reasonable energy output. Although the silver maple showed limited response at lower wind speeds, it performed efficiently at higher speeds. In contrast, the hawthorn and Norway maple models produced smaller vibrations and lower frequencies, resulting in lower harvested power. These findings clearly demonstrate the crucial role of geometry in optimizing vibration-based energy harvesting performance.

Keywords

Flow-induced vibration
Energy harvesting
Bio-inspired
Leaf-like geometry
Piezoelectric
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Mechanic of Advanced and Smart Materials
Volume 4, Issue 4
Winter 2025
Pages 684-701

  • Receive Date 24 July 2025
  • Revise Date 07 August 2025
  • Accept Date 19 August 2025

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