Author(s) :

Aarav George.

Volume/Issue :

Abstract :

Road vehicles lose significant energy through aerodynamic drag, creating turbulent wakes with energy-harvesting potential. This study investigates using vehicle-induced vortex shedding to excite piezoelectric cantilever beams for roadside power generation. Computational fluid dynamics simulations with OpenFOAM model flow past a cylindrical bluff body representing a vehicle feature, with a downstream flexible beam located in the wake. The cylinder produces a von Kármán vortex street that generates alternating pressure loads on the beam. When piezoelectric layers are bonded to the beam, this cyclic bending can convert otherwise wasted aerodynamic energy into electrical power for lighting, sensing, or traffic-monitoring equipment. Baseline simulations confirm stable, periodic vortex shedding and capture the associated unsteady pressure fields in the wake region. However, comparison of the numerically obtained shedding frequency with values predicted from the Strouhal relationship reveals an order-of-magnitude discrepancy, indicating that additional refinement of mesh resolution, temporal discretization, and boundary conditions is required before quantitative power estimates can be made. Despite these limitations, the results demonstrate that vehicle-generated wakes can provide the cyclic aerodynamic loading needed to drive piezoelectric harvesters. The study establishes a CFD framework for analyzing this coupling and outlines key modeling improvements and experimental validation steps required to scale the concept to realistic vehicle-wake velocities and to design practical, low-maintenance energy-harvesting modules for sustainable roadside infrastructure.