Energy Harvesting from Vortex Induced Vibrations Using Vented Cylinders Mounted on Light Rail Locomotive

Abstract

Majority of the population is dependent on the fossil fuels which are the conventional sources of the energy. Since fossil fuels are non-renewable they are bound to deplete in the near future. Leading edge research on the renewable sources of energy like wind energy, solar energy etc. Is a growing concern which has to replace the conventional energy sources to prevent environmental pollution and global warming. Wind energy is one among the renewable energy which is used for large scale power production using turbines, wind mills and power houses. Harvesting energy from vibrations caused because of alternative vortex shedding due to fluidic flow over a bluff body is under progressive research. The purpose of this study is to harvest wind energy from cross flow vibrations using vented cylinders mounted on the chassis of the train. In this study usage of vented cylinders over a normal baseline cylinder is of major concern to enhance vortex shedding and to extract maximum amount of energy considering a typical single carriage of a train. Using Computational fluid dynamics, Strouhal number is calculated which is validated and further designing a system for harvesting energy from vibrations. � 2016 IEEE.