Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 46 (2013) 151–161

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Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science

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Flapping dynamics of a low aspect-ratio energy-harvesting membrane immersed

in a square cylinder wake
Shengxian Shi a,⇑, T.H. New b, Yingzheng Liu a,⇑
a
Key Laboratory for Power Machinery and Engineering of Ministry of Education, School of Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 200240 Shanghai, China
b
School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798, Singapore

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: A low aspect-ratio of 1.67 flexible polyethylene terephthalate membrane located within the wake region
Received 27 September 2012 of a square cylinder is studied to understand the effects of Reynolds number (ReD = 3200–12,000) upon its
Received in revised form 11 December 2012 resultant flapping behaviour and strain energy distribution. For Reynolds number up to ReD = 4000, the
Accepted 14 December 2012
membrane exhibits limited cantilever-like oscillations (i.e. Mode A), while a mixture of Mode A response
Available online 26 December 2012
and limited travelling waves is produced between ReD = 4000–6800 (i.e. Mode B). On the other hand,
quasi-periodical flapping occurs between ReD = 6800–12,000 (i.e. Mode C). Results further demonstrate
Keywords:
similarities to high aspect-ratio polyvinylidene difluoride membranes studied previously: firstly, flapping
Flexible membrane
Energy harvesting
amplitude increases with Reynolds number and secondly, an optimal flapping frequency exists in Mode C
Flapping dynamics whereby it ‘‘locks-in’’ to the wake vortex-shedding frequency. Flapping intermittencies are observed to
Image processing occur in all modes and found to decrease with increasing Reynolds number. In addition, non-uniform
strain energy distributions along the membrane length and the total harvestable energy levels are
deduced to increase with the Reynolds number. Lastly, results also indicate that Modes A and B lead to
linear energy growth rates, while Mode C produces growth rates that scales with Re3:4 D .
Ó 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction and stack membranes in a bluff body wake was investigated. It

Traditionally, vortex-shedding phenomenon and flow-induced
vibrations have long been considered as undesirable flow effects
due to its potentially detrimental impact on structural integrity.
Hence, it is not surprising that many past studies focused upon
mitigating their effects [1]. On the other hand, Allen and Smits
[2] demonstrated that vortices shed by bluff bodies could instead
be tapped to produce electrical energy. In this case, they proposed
an energy harvesting system in which alternating vortices shed by
a bluff body are used to continuously deform a flexible piezoelec-
tric membrane located within the wake region. As piezoelectric
material is capable of generating electrical energy when it incurs
mechanical strain under deformation, the supposedly ‘‘harmful’’
vortex-shedding effects can be converted to useful electrical power
through such fluid–structure interactions. That experimental study
proved that, if the membrane material and design are carefully
optimised, it can flap at nearly the same frequency as the undis-
turbed vortex shedding frequency. This is known as the ‘‘frequency
lock-in’’ condition, where the membrane is able to respond rapidly
and closely to the wake vortices produced by the bluff body.
This concept was taken a significant step forward by Techet
et al. [3], where the feasibility of placing large-scale membranes
⇑ Corresponding authors.
E-mail address: yzliu@sjtu.edu.cn (Y. Liu).
was found that large-scale membranes retain the ability to lock-
into the vortex shedding behaviour despite their significant sizes.
In contrast, the overall lock-in behaviour of stack membranes
was shown to be easily disrupted by a single membrane which
did not lock-in successfully. In this case, the failure of one or a
few membranes to respond well to the wake vortices upsets the
general coherence of the vortex-shedding behaviour and impact
directly upon the stack membranes to extract useful energy. Simi-
lar vortex-shedding based energy harvesting system has also been
investigated by Taylor et al. [4], who focused mainly on experi-
mental measurements and theoretical analyses of electrical power
output derived from these energy harvesting membranes. In a later
study, Pobering and Schwesinger [5] extended this concept to a
hydropower generator, in which a total of 100,000 piezoelectric
generators were arranged in an approximately one square metre
grid across a river. Their theoretical analyses suggested that the
generator was able to reach a power density of 68.1 W/m3. This
represents a significant improvement over more conventional sus-
tainable energy sources such as wind turbines, which typically has
a power density of approximately 34 W/m3 [5].
Hence, it is not surprising that there are immense interests in
harvesting energy from naturally occurring and commonly found
flow phenomena such as vortex-shedding. On top of producing
electrical energy sustainably, energy-harvesting membrane is also
an attractive option to power small electrical devices in locations

0894-1777/$ - see front matter Ó 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.expthermflusci.2012.12.007
152 S. Shi et al. / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 46 (2013) 151–161

that are very remote and/or have low solar radiation density, in an the present study would also compare some of the differences in
unattended manner. Cumbersome and expensive periodic battery the membrane flapping behaviour caused by variations in the
replacements can be avoided if such a concept can be optimised membrane aspect-ratio where appropriate.
with respect to the membrane physical characteristics and flow
conditions [6,7]. Thus, quite a number of experimental and numer-
2. Experimental setup
ical studies had previously been conducted in this area [8–12].
However, note that many of these studies were carried out with
2.1. Water channel setup
a view to either understand the fundamental flow physics of
fluid–structure interactions, or to optimise energy production lev-
All experiments were conducted in a closed-loop recirculating
els of piezoelectric materials. In contrast, studies to predict and
water channel driven by a pair of Iwaki magnetic drive centrifugal
hence optimise the electrical energy production by considering
pumps, which were damped to avoid imparting structural vibra-
the strain energy incurred by the flexible membrane in the flow
tions to the facility. The pumps were controlled by frequency
field are comparatively more limited in the literature [2,4,3,5]. Nat-
inverters such that the free stream velocity could be varied contin-
urally, the amount of electrical power generated by the membrane
uously between 0.1 m/s and 1.9 m/s. To ensure flow homogeneity
is expected to depend directly upon the strain energy incurred un-
and low turbulence levels, a settling chamber, flow-straightening
der continuous deformations by the wake vortices.
honeycomb and contraction section were located upstream of the
Since practical implementation of any membrane-based energy
test-section. In addition, the fully enclosed 100 mm(W) 
harvesting system requires careful matching of appropriate mem-
100 mm(H)  1200 mm(L) test-section was constructed out of
brane material and geometry to the flow conditions for maximum
Plexiglas to ensure good optical access for the high-speed imaging
strain energy production, additional information on their relation-
system used here. After passing through the test-section, the water
ships will be highly beneficial. For the present study, the primary
entered a downstream reservoir which channelled it back to the
interest is in understanding the flapping dynamics of a relatively
upstream settling chamber for recirculation. Based on particle-
low aspect-ratio membrane. It should be noted that most of the
image velocimetry (PIV) measurements prior to the present study,
earlier studies on energy harvesting membranes focused primarily
the free stream turbulence level was estimated to be less than
on comparatively high aspect-ratio membranes. For instance, Allen
2.5% of the free-stream velocity used here. As part of the present
and Smits [2] and Techet et al. [3] made use of membranes with as-
investigation, the free stream velocity was varied between
pect-ratios of 12 and 18. Interestingly, Allen and Smits [2] did not
U = 0.4 m/s and 1.5 m/s, which resulted in a Reynolds number
observe significant variations in the membrane flapping behaviour
(based on square cylinder width) range of ReD = 3200–12,000.
when its length was varied. However, they did note that this might
The purpose was to further understand the spectrum of different
be due to the relatively high aspect-ratios of the membranes to be-
flapping mechanisms across this selected range of Reynolds num-
gin with. Furthermore, as mentioned earlier on, there are chal-
bers, which would correspond better to real-world conditions
lenges in getting multiple high aspect-ratio membranes to
where flow velocities would change according to the prevailing
achieve synchronous lock-in conditions when they are stacked to-
wind or water current conditions.
gether. This is due to the growth of three-dimensionalities as the
It should be noted that the flapping behaviour of flexible mem-
wake vortices interact with and convect along the membrane
branes is governed by more than just the Reynolds number. For in-
surfaces. Therefore, utilising lower aspect-ratio membranes may
stance, Alben [13] and Alben and Shelly [14] had earlier shown the
provide a potential workaround by limiting the growth and subse-
importance of other parameters governing fluid–structure interac-
quent effects of the three-dimensionalities. However, the effects of
tions. In their studies, they considered additional influences com-
wake vortices on the flapping dynamics of low aspect-ratio mem-
ing from the bending force to fluid inertia force ratio, as well as
branes are not well understood. As a result, there remain outstand-
those arising from the ratio of the solid inertia force to the fluid
ing issues to be considered when low aspect-ratio membranes are
inertia force. In the present study however, the focus is on the ef-
to be used in place of their high aspect-ratio counterparts. In par-
fects of Reynolds number upon the membrane flapping character-
ticular, low aspect-ratio membranes are expected to damp out
istics, as little information on the use of low aspect-ratio flexible
significant deformation effects coming from the wake vortices,
membranes exists in the first place. Looking at them from the per-
due to higher structural stiffness as compared to larger aspect-ratio
spectives of Reynolds number variations will represent a logical
membranes. In that case, earlier results and insights based on high
first step towards understanding them.
aspect-ratio membranes will not characterise correctly the
expected behaviour of low aspect-ratio membranes.
Motivated by the above considerations, an experimental study 2.2. Square-cylinder and membrane setup
was undertaken to provide more details on the flapping dynamics
of a low aspect-ratio membrane, with a view to harvest energy The square-cylinder and polyethylene terephthalate (PET)
from the wake vortices downstream of a square cylinder located membrane apparatus is depicted schematically in Fig. 1, where a
in a free stream. More importantly, the present study sought to square cylinder with a cross-section of 8 mm  8 mm(D) and
shed light upon the relationships between the fluid–structure length H = 100 mm at zero angle-of-incidence with respect to the
interactions observed experimentally here and their projected lev- free-stream was positioned vertically along the test-section centr-
els of strain energy production. These estimates would aid design- eline, with its length spanning across the entire height of the test-
ing of membranes with suitable geometries and dimensions such section. A square cylinder was chosen as the bluff body of choice
that electrical power generation can be optimised. However, note here as its flow separation locations at zero angle-of-incidence
that the focus of the present study remains within the realms of are fixed at the leading edge corners. Furthermore, its flow separa-
looking at the behaviour of low aspect-ratio membrane flapping tion characteristics are relatively insensitive towards variations in
behaviour and how the amount of membrane strain energy under the free-stream Reynolds number, which benefits a flexible mem-
different flow conditions can be estimated through theoretical con- brane intended to be used across a significant Reynolds number
siderations. The issue of converting alternating electrical outputs range. The 0.1 mm thick PET membrane measured 50 mm (L) by
from piezoelectric membranes efficiently under complex flapping 30 mm (W) was located at the lee-side of the square cylinder
behaviour may be a subject of further study in the future, but for using a 1 mm diameter stainless steel rod welded to the square
now, it is beyond the focus of the current investigation. Lastly, cylinder, and distances between its top and bottom edges to the
 S. Shi et al. / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 46 (2013) 151–161
Fig. 1. Schematics of the experimental apparatus which consisted of a flapping PET
membrane behind a square cylinder.
corresponding top and bottom walls of the water tunnel were both
35 mm. The aspect-ratio of the membrane was approximately 1.67,
which was only about 10% of the high aspect-ratio membranes
studied by Allen and Smits [2]. The PET membrane was transparent
throughout and has a Young’s modulus of E = 2.0  109 N/m2 [15].
These offered two distinct advantages in the present study: Firstly,
the transparent membrane allowed laser illumination of the entire
flow field around the membrane to be possible. This is in contrast
to the non-transparent nature of polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF)
membranes, which are more commonly used in flexible mem-
branes to generate electrical energy. Secondly, the Young’s modu-
lus for PET is very close to that of PVDF (i.e. E = 2.24  109 N/m2
[3]), which allows reasonable comparisons between them. Since
the purpose of the present study was not to generate electrical
energy but rather, to focus more upon the flapping dynamics, a
PET membrane represented a good substitute for a PVDF mem-
brane during the course of this study. Lastly, the dimensionless
membrane mass and rigidity were determined to be R1 = 0.0706
and R2 = 0.0024–0.0038 (depending on the exact test velocity
used), in accordance to definitions used by Alben [13] and Alben
and Shelly [14].
2.3. Image-acquisition setup
To illuminate the flow fields associated with the flapping flexi-
ble membrane, laser beam from a 2 W, 532 nm wavelength,
continuous-wave, diode-pumped solid state laser was formed into
a 1 mm thick laser using a cylindrical lens and aligned horizontally
along the mid-width of the membrane. The flapping motion of the
membrane was subsequently recorded by an 8-bit greyscale,
1280 px  1024 px Mikrotron high-speed CMOS camera with a
Nikon f 2.8 60 mm lens installed above the water channel and per-
pendicular to the thickness of the membrane. Based on the current
experimental conditions, the CMOS camera was operating at a cap-
turing frame-rate of 376 frames-per-second with a field-of-view
measuring approximately 63 mm (L) by 51 mm (W), which results
in a spatial resolution of 0.05 mm/pixel. The wake vortex shedding
frequency for the square cylinder within the present Reynolds
number ranged can be determined from relevant vortex-shedding
Fig. 2. Identified points on membrane by the Texton method.
153
Strouhal number data found in Okajima’s study [16]. According to
that investigation, the Strouhal number associated with vortex-
shedding behind a square cylinder remains relatively constant at
StD = 0.13 across the current Reynolds number range. Based on
the present flow conditions and cylinder geometry, the vortex-
shedding frequencies across the current Reynolds number range
were estimated to vary between fv = 6–25 Hz. The suitability of
using StD = 0.13 was confirmed when the actual vortex-shedding
frequencies for the square cylinder with the membrane attached
were determined from the high-speed image-sequences. The
Strouhal numbers of the vortex-shedding frequencies were esti-
mated to be between StD = 0.125–0.136, which are in good agree-
ment with StD = 0.13 as deduced by Okajima [16]. Compared to
the significantly higher capturing frame-rate of the CMOS camera,
the membrane flapping motion would be resolved at very high
spatial and temporal resolutions. To analyse the flapping motions
and behaviour in detail, a total of 35,000 consecutive image frames
were captured for each Reynolds number.
2.4. Image processing procedures
In the captured images, the membrane outline would appear as
a brightly illuminated curve against a dark background. The width
of the membrane outline measured between 5–10 pixels, due to
slight three-dimensionalities in the membrane deformation. None-
theless, compared to the membrane length which measured
approximately 1080 pixels in the image frames, variations in the
membrane width could be neglected and the membrane assumed
to undergo two-dimensional deformations. To identify the coordi-
nates of the entire membrane outline in each image frame,
‘‘Texton’’ technique was used [17]. Using this technique, the mem-
brane outline in each image frame was divided into multiple short
sections and cross-correlated with a set of predefined lines (i.e.
textons) with known inclined angles, widths and pixel intensities.
The best match between each of these short sections and prede-
fined lines would then give the inclined angle of the section, while
a Gaussian curve fit would provide the coordinates of each section
centre with subpixel accuracy. By repeating this cross-correlation
along the different membrane profiles captured in all the image-
frames, the membrane would be digitalised as 70–80 points with
known coordinates. To reconstruct back the membrane outline as
a smooth curve, these coordinates were curve fitted using a
10th-order polynomial equation with a fitting error of no more
than 0.5 px. Fig. 2 shows a sample of the identified points along a
deformed membrane using the preceding procedures to illustrate
the curve-fitting. Due to the large number of points identified
(1080 points per membrane), only selected points at regular inter-
vals are indicated in the figure. For estimation of membrane strain
energy incurred under deformations later, all the points were used
instead.
3. Results and discussions
3.1. Membrane flapping modes
Time-sequenced image-series captured for the membrane dem-
onstrate that it deforms well under the influences of the alternat-
ing wake vortices shed behind the square cylinder. From the
154 S. Shi et al. / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 46 (2013) 151–161
1 0.1
POD Coefficient
0.5
0 −0.1
1 2 3 4
POD mode number
(a)
0.1
0.05
0 0
−0.05
−0.1
0 2
x/D
(c)
Fig. 3. POD analysis on membrane flapping trajectories for ReD = 3200, 5600 and 10,800. (a) POD coefficient, (b) 1st POD mode, (c) 2nd POD mode, (d) 3rd POD mode.
perspectives of having a membrane which can harvest energy
across a significant range of working flow velocities, this is a
favourable observation. However, note that the realisable level of
electrical energy to be generated from such a membrane is closely
associated to the level of its strain energy incurred under deforma-
tion. Therefore, it is important that the deformation of the mem-
brane be clarified here. With that in mind, details on the
membrane deformation dynamics with respect to changes in the
Reynolds number will now be presented.
During the study, while the deformations of the membrane are
sensitive towards the exact flow velocity, different dominant defor-
mation behaviour can be segregated between distinct Reynolds
number ranges through the use of Proper Orthogonal Decom-
position (POD) analysis. As a mathematical tool to approximate a
high-dimensional process with a low-dimensional description,
POD has been used to identify dominant large-scale flow structures
in seemingly incoherent turbulent flows [18,19]. In the present
study, POD was applied to decompose the 35,000 consecutive,
instantaneous membrane outlines obtained from high-speed imag-
ing experiments at each Reynolds number tested. For the sake of
brevity, only POD analysis results at three representative Reynolds
numbers (ReD = 3200, 5600 and 10,800) are shown in Fig. 3.
Fig. 3a shows the POD coefficients obtained for the three se-
lected Reynolds numbers, where the coefficients indicate the num-
ber of dominant waveforms (POD modes) existing in the
membrane flapping behaviour. It can be discerned that up to three
POD modes contribute entirely towards the flapping characteristics
of the membranes. Fig. 3b–d present the identified dominant
waveforms. Note that the waveforms depicted in these figures do
not possess any amplitude information, as POD analyses only focus
on the dominate spatial structures. In many ways, this is similar to
isolating the different fundamental vibration modes of a simple
cantilever, where only the wavelengths relative to the membrane
length matter, rather than the exact wavelengths. Returning to
the figures, it can be observed that only the 1st and 2nd POD
modes exist at ReD = 3200, and ReD = 5600 and ReD = 10,800 have
three POD modes but they greatly differ in the 1st and 2nd POD
modes.
The above POD procedures were repeated for all other Reynolds
number tested, which allowed classification of the membrane flap-
ping motions into three distinct flapping modes, together with
Re =3200
D 0.05
Re =5600
D
0
ReD=10800
−0.05
5 6 0 2 4 6
x/D
(b)
0.1
0.05
−0.05
−0.1
4 6 0 2 4 6
x/D
(d)
additional information provided by the amplitude, tip deflections
and flapping frequencies. Despite inherent uncertainties associated
with visual inspections, high-speed image-sequences at different
Reynolds numbers were also visually checked to ensure that they
were classified correctly, to the best of the inspection process.
Overall, three distinct membrane flapping modes were identified:
Firstly, Mode A dominates between a Reynolds number range of
ReD = 3200–4000, in which limited cantilever-like oscillations of
the membrane dominates. Secondly, Mode B prevails between
ReD = 4000–6800, where a limited cantilever-like oscillations and
travelling waves combined to deform the membrane. And lastly,
Mode C occurs between ReD = 6800–12,000, where the membrane
undergoes quasi-periodic flapping. Since the working principles
of energy harvesting membranes rely upon strong flapping mo-
tions, Mode C will be of particular interest here. This mode is typ-
ically associated with large membrane deformations and large
oscillation amplitudes, which are expected to increase the strain
energy and efficiency of any energy-harvesting membranes. To
better understand these different modes, representative results
depicting their dominant deformation behaviour will now be
presented.
Firstly, an image-sequence of the membrane deformation
behaviour at ReD = 3200 is shown in Fig. 4. The membrane can be
observed to essentially oscillate about the rod like a cantilever
shape in a very limited manner (Mode A). In this case, the oscillat-
ing amplitude is comparatively small as the weak vortex-shedding
behaviour produced by the square cylinder at this low Reynolds
number is largely damped by the stiffness of the membrane. As a
result, the membrane shape does not take on a significantly undu-
lated outline which typically results from strong deformations by
the alternating wake vortices. However, as the Reynolds number
increases further, the membrane shape will deviate from the mild
deformations seen previously and transit into outlines depicting
larger and more undulated deformations such those shown in
Fig. 5. In Fig. 5 where the Reynolds number is ReD = 5600, the dom-
inant mode of deformation of the membrane outline differs from
that observed earlier. Instead of having outlines that resemble can-
tilever shapes only, closer inspection shows the membrane now
takes on limited travelling wave shapes as well (Mode B). As a re-
sult, the membrane is now more undulated as compared to the
previous Reynolds number, which illustrates the dependency of
 S. Shi et al. / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 46 (2013) 151–161 155

(i) (i)

(ii) (ii)

(iii) (iii)

(iv) (iv)

(a) Flapping sequence (a) Flapping sequence

(b) Composite image (b) Composite image

Fig. 4. Image-sequence depicting Mode A membrane deformation behaviour at Fig. 6. Image-sequence depicting Mode C membrane deformation behaviour at
ReD = 3200. ReD = 10,800.

the present membrane to Reynolds number increments. The optimal couplings between the wake vortex structures and the
amplitude of the oscillating membrane has also grown larger, membrane structure.
due to the stronger wake vortices which are able to deform the If the Reynolds number is increased further to ReD = 10,800, the
membrane better. Clearly, this leads to better though still non- membrane shape changes again to one which is relatively similar
to quasi-periodical flapping (Mode C), as shown in Fig. 6. On top
of the larger deformations incurred by the membrane due to the
(i)
even stronger wake vortices and better fluid–structure couplings,
its oscillation amplitude increases significantly and wavelength
of the travelling waves reduces. Membrane outlines at these
Reynolds numbers are quantified through image-processing proce-
dures described earlier on and selected outlines are presented in
(ii) Fig. 7a. It can be observed that the membrane outlines determined
by the image-processing procedures trace out the membrane
deformations well, thus depicting clearly the differences in the
flapping amplitudes and wavelengths between the various modes.
(iii) In addition, Fig. 7 is presented to illustrate the different Reynolds
number regimes in which these modes exist.
Compared to the results presented by Allen and Smits [2] for
ReD = 1000–20,000, some similarities can be observed between
theirs and the present study despite the differences in the mem-
brane aspect-ratio. For instance, the membrane outline shown in
(iv)
Fig. 6a of that study at ReD = 10,000 is generally similar to Mode
C observed here. Furthermore, their visualisation result taken at
ReD = 1000 (i.e. Fig. 5 in their study) agrees well with the present
observation that Mode A flapping will only occur when Reynolds
(a) Flapping sequence number exceeds ReD = 3200. Hence, considering the differences in
the membrane aspect-ratio and material, there are general agree-
ments in the experimental results between the present work and
Allen and Smits [2]. To probe further, variations in the flapping
amplitude will now be presented and examined.

3.2. Membrane flapping amplitude and intermittencies

(b) Composite image
Fig. 5. Image-sequence depicting Mode B membrane deformation behaviour at To look at the variations in flapping amplitudes associated with
ReD = 5600. increasing Reynolds number, membrane outlines are determined
156 S. Shi et al. / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 46 (2013) 151–161
1.5
(i) Re D=3200
1
0.5
Y/D
-0.5
-1
-1.5
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1
X/D
3200 4000
Fig. 7. Variations in the (a) instantaneous membrane outlines at Reynolds numbers of ReD = 3200, 5600 and 10,800, as well as (b) dominant flapping modes across different
Reynolds number ranges.
for all test conditions. As an example to illustrate the procedure,
Fig. 8a shows superposition of 35,000 membrane outlines deter-
mined using similar number of time-series image-frames (or
time-steps) at ReD = 4000. In this case, the maximum tip-to-tip dis-
placement at the membrane trailing-edge is defined as the flapping
amplitude, A, which is further normalised by the cylinder width, D.
These procedures are repeated for all Reynolds numbers tested
here and the variations in the flapping amplitude with Reynolds
number are shown in Fig. 8b. From the figure, it can be seen that
the flapping amplitude increases with the Reynolds number within
the present test range. Interestingly, the amplitude variation de-
picted by the figure appears to comprise of two different amplitude
growth rates, depending on the exact Reynolds number. For
instance, the amplitude growth rate between ReD = 3200–5000 is
discernibly faster than that between ReD = 5000–12,000. Correlat-
ing with Fig. 7, it can be seen that changes in the dominant flapping
modes do not occur at ReD = 5000. In fact, the figure shows that this
particular Reynolds number is intermediate of ReD = 4000 and
Fig. 8. (a) Superposition of 35,000 membrane outlines at ReD = 4000 and (b) variation of maximum flapping amplitudes with Reynolds number.
(ii) ReD=5600 (iii) ReD=10800
2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
X/D X/D
(a)
ReD
6800 12000
(b)
6800, which are the limits for Mode B. While the exactly reason
is not clear to the authors at this point, it is postulated that
ReD = 5000 represents a transition point whereby cantilever Mode
A type oscillations cease to exert significant influence upon the
amplitude in Mode B flapping behaviour. Instead, travelling wave-
forms begin to exert more dominant effects as the Reynolds num-
ber increases further from that point. Since these two types of
oscillations are fundamentally different, they may explain the dis-
crepancy in the amplitude growth rate observed here.
Earlier results in Figs. 6 and 7 have indicated that the membrane
flaps as a quasi-periodical travelling wave (i.e. Mode C) between
ReD = 6800–12,000, which is significantly different from Modes A
and B. This flapping mode is expected to be more conducive to-
wards efficient energy-harvesting than Modes A and B, simply
due to its significantly larger flapping amplitudes. However, note
that the stability and regularity of favourable flapping behaviour
also affect the eventual electrical power output. To look at this in
greater detail, temporal developments of the flapping amplitude
 S. Shi et al. / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 46 (2013) 151–161 157

incurred at the membrane tip are presented in Fig. 9a–c for the
three different flapping modes at ReD = 3200, 5600 and 10,800
(i.e. corresponding to Modes A, B and C respectively). Comparing
between the three flapping modes, one can easily discern that the
flapping behaviour does not remain consistent across consecutive
cycles. In fact, the maximum amplitude of each flapping cycle varies
significantly within these selected time-histories, and indeed
throughout the entire time-history obtained at these Reynolds
numbers. These results are in good agreement with Techet et al.
[3], who made similar observations for both single membrane and
stacked membrane configurations. In their investigation, they
observed that these membranes would flap regularly at some
frequency for several cycles before coming to a stop. However,
the break in the flapping cycle is short-lived since the membranes
will resume their original flapping behaviour again. Despite these
intermittencies in the flapping behaviour, it can still be observed
that the flapping amplitude generally increases with the Reynolds
number. In particular, the maximum flapping amplitude observed
for ReD = 10,800 in Fig. 9c is nearly an order of magnitude larger
than that for ReD = 3200, as shown in Fig. 9a. Since the flapping
amplitude corresponds to the overall membrane deformation, it is
expected that larger strain energy will be produced in Mode C.
At this point, it should be intuitive that the flapping intermit-
tencies affect the performance of the membrane as a power gener-
ation device, other than the flapping amplitude. To investigate
further, time-histories of the membrane flapping behaviour are
evaluated to arrive at their ‘‘flapping density’’. Flapping density
is defined here as the probability of the membrane trailing-edge
tip passing a given position between both ends of the maximum
amplitude. Since the interest here is to find out how often the flap-
ping amplitude approaches to zero and hence affects the mem-
brane performance adversely, a cut-off criterion of j2a/Aj = 0.1 is
used, where a is the instantaneous flapping amplitude as mea-
sured from the mid-point of maximum amplitude, A. Hence, the
ratio of flapping cycles with amplitudes smaller than the criterion
with respect to the total number of flapping cycles can be deter-
mined and information on the occurrences of non-optimal flap-
ping cycles obtained. This criterion is imposed on the data for all
Reynolds numbers tested here and the results are presented in
Fig. 9d. While the flapping density appears to fluctuate across
the present Reynolds number range, the general trend is that the
number of non-optimal flapping instances decrease when the
Reynolds number increases, even though the change is relatively
small. As will be shown later, the ratio of membrane flapping fre-
quency becomes progressively closer to and eventually matches
that of the wake vortices as the Reynolds number increases. Col-
lating between these two observations then, it can be deduced
that non-optimal flapping instances are due to either severe
damping of the wake vortices by the membrane overall stiffness
which alters the formers’ physical structure, or less-than-ideal
coupling between them due to the low aspect-ratio membrane
configuration. However, these postulations need to be ascertained
in further studies, possibly through flow visualisations of the wake
vortices. Increasing the Reynolds number, however, will improve
the mutual fluid–structure coupling and reduce the extent of
non-optimal flapping behaviour.

30 100

20

10 50
Tip deflection (pixel)

Tip deflection (pixel)

0
0
−10

−20
−50
−30

−40 −100
−50

−60 −150
0 100 200 300 400 500 0 100 200 300 400 500
Time step Time step
(a) (b)
300 0.32

0.31
200
Flapping density (|2a/A|<0.1)

0.3

100 0.29
Tip deflection

0.28
0
0.27

−100 0.26

0.25
−200
0.24

−300 0.23
100 200 300 400 500 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000
Time step ReD
(c) (d)
Fig. 9. Time history of the membrane tip deflection at (a) ReD = 3200, (b) ReD = 5600, and (c) ReD = 10,800; as well as (d) variations of the membrane flapping density with
Reynolds number (note that the y-axis ranges are different across (a)–(c)).
158 S. Shi et al. / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 46 (2013) 151–161
3.3. Membrane flapping frequency
An important criterion to assess how well the flapping mem-
brane actually couples with the wake vortices is to look at the ratio
of membrane flapping frequency, fm, and vortex shedding fre-
quency, fv. If the fluid–structure coupling between the wake vorti-
ces and flapping membrane is optimal, the frequency ratio, fm/fv,
will intuitively be one. However, if the coupling is sub-optimal,
the frequency ratio will be less than or greater than one. As defined
by Allen and Smits [2] earlier, frequency lock-in behaviour exists
when the frequency ratio is one, where the membrane responds
exactly to the wake vortices impinging upon and convecting along
its surfaces. To obtain the membrane frequencies across the
Reynolds number range used here, fast Fourier transform (FFT) is
performed on the membrane profile data. To ensure that the
dominant frequency is indeed invariant throughout the entire
length of the membrane, FFT is performed at four different mem-
brane locations: x/L = 0.2, 0.4, 0.6 and 0.8 at ReD = 4000. The FFT
analysis results are plotted in Fig. 10a and shows that the domi-
nant membrane flapping frequency is practically invariant along
the entire length of the membrane, regardless of the exact flapping
mode. Hence, for the sake of consistency, dominant frequencies are
determined at x/L = 0.8 location for the flapping membrane at
ReD = 3200, 5600 and 10,800 and shown in Fig. 10b. As can be
observed from the figure, the dominant flapping frequency for each
Reynolds number can be clearly discerned from the peaks in the
power spectral results.
Fig. 11a shows the variations in the frequency ratio with
Reynolds number for the present study. It is interesting to note
from the figure that the frequency ratio actually decreases with
Reynolds number increments for Modes A and B (i.e. ReD = 3200–
6800). Therefore, coupling between the membrane and wake vor-
tices becomes progressively poorer as Mode A transits into Mode B,
presumably due to damping effects. Considering the earlier obser-
vation that the flapping amplitudes associated with these two flap-
ping modes are significantly lower than those of Mode C, the
membrane is expected to extract much smaller amounts of energy
from the wake vortices in these two flapping modes. In contrast,
this trend begins to reverse when Mode C flapping behaviour
initiates from ReD = 6800 onwards, where the frequency-ratio tend
to increase mildly with Reynolds number increments. Nonetheless,
the frequency-ratio generally stays approximately between
30
20
10
0
G (dB)
−10
−20
−30
−40
−50
10 1
Frequency (Hz)
(a)
Fig. 10. Power spectral determined at (a) different locations along the length of the membrane at ReD = 4000 and (b) x/L = 0.8 location for the flapping membrane at
ReD = 3200, 5600 and 10,800.
fm/fv = 0.75–0.8. However, when the Reynolds number exceeds
ReD = 10,000, the frequency-ratio increases dramatically to exceed
fm/fv = 1, before it decreases moderately. In particular, the fre-
quency-ratios between ReD = 10,400–10,800 are approximately be-
tween fm/fv = 0.93–1.02. Hence, the coupling between the
membrane and wake vortices is excellent within this Reynolds
number range, with the membrane resonating with the alternating
nature of the wake vortices to achieve frequency lock-in. According
to the test results, optimal frequency lock-in (i.e. fm/fv = 1) occurs at
ReD = 10,800.
Comparing the present frequency-ratios against those obtained
by Allen and Smits [2] for high aspect-ratio membranes (included
in Fig. 11b), it is interesting to note the differences in how the fre-
quency-ratio varies with Reynolds number between the two stud-
ies. Note that PVDF membranes are used in that study, which has
relatively similar Young’s modulus as the PET membrane used
here. Firstly, one of the most distinct differences is that the low as-
pect-ratio membranes used in the present study have frequency-
ratios which do not fall below fm/fv = 0.75 at comparatively lower
Reynolds numbers. This is in contrast to high aspect-ratio mem-
branes studied by Allen and Smits [2], where their frequency-ratios
can be significantly lower and indicates that low aspect-ratio
membranes may have better couplings with the wake vortices at
smaller Reynolds numbers. Secondly, unlike some of their high as-
pect-ratio membranes which see their frequency-ratio increasing
gradually towards the optimal level, low aspect-ratio membranes
used here reaches the optimal level in a much more abrupt man-
ner. Furthermore, unlike high aspect-ratio membranes, fre-
quency-ratio of low aspect-ratio membranes decreases from the
optimal level significantly faster. This indicates that maintaining
optimal coupling between the membrane and wake vortices may
be more challenging for low aspect-ratio membranes due to the
small optimal range. Thus, even for same membrane material
and same installation configuration, the membrane length, bluff
body size and flow conditions should be carefully selected such
that the membrane can operate in optimal coupling mode.
Before going to the next section, it is important to note that the
preceding comparisons are made based on variations observed in
the overall trends, particularly with respect to changes in the
Reynolds number based on bluff body dimensions. Due to differ-
ences in the bluff body geometry, actual membrane physical sizes
and area moments of inertia (among others), their exact effects
x/L=0.2 ReD=3200
x/L=0.4 ReD=5600
x/L=0.6 ReD=10800
x/L=0.8
10 2 101 10 2
Frequency (Hz)
(b)
 S. Shi et al. / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 46 (2013) 151–161 159

1.1 1.1

1.05 1

1
0.9
0.95
fm /fv 0.8

fm /fv
0.9
0.7
0.85
PU
0.6
0.8 18in PVDF, D=1.5in
24in PVDF, D=2.0in
0.75 0.5 24in PVDF, D=1.5in
Plastic eel
0.7 0.4
2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000 0 10000 20000 30000 40000
ReD ReD

(a) (b)
Fig. 11. Variations in the frequency-ratio for (a) the present test Reynolds numbers and (b) different membranes studied in Allen and Smits [2].

may not be captured in the above comparisons. Nevertheless, the
comparisons should serve as a good first-hand appreciation of
the more important differences between low and high aspect-ratio
membrane flapping behaviour in this point.
3.4. Strain energy distribution and energy harvesting capacity
Unlike PVDF membranes which are able to generate electrical
energy through their piezoelectric properties under deformations,
PET membrane used in the current investigation does not. There-
fore, to estimate the expected levels of energy harvestable by the
membrane if it was to be based on PVDF material, an analysis on
the strain energy incurred along the deformed PET membrane is
performed. While the material properties for PVDF and PET are
not exactly similar, their Young’s moduli are quite close and a rea-
sonable estimate can be arrived at for a PVDF membrane of similar
dimensions here. According to Techet et al. [3], the strain in a de-
formed membrane, e, is defined as e = hR/2, where h is the mem-
brane thickness and R is the deformation curvature radius. With
the availability of 35,000 time-series image-frames captured for
the membranes at each test Reynolds number here, distributions
of the mean square of the strain, e2, can thus be obtained along
the entire membrane length and shown in Fig. 12a.
In the figure, results are presented for Reynolds numbers of
ReD = 5600, 10,800 and 12,000, which represent conditions where-
by optimal coupling has not been attained yet (i.e. fm/fv < 1), at
optimal coupling (i.e. fm/fv = 1) and after coupling optimal (i.e. fm/
fv < 1) respectively. It can be readily observed that the strain level
increases with Reynolds number (at least within the range tested
here), even though membrane-wake vortices coupling is non-opti-
mal at ReD = 5600 and 12,000. Collating with Fig. 8b and Fig. 11a, it
appears that even if the membrane flapping frequency does not
match well with that of the wake vortices, large flapping ampli-
tudes are able to produce substantial strain. This is because mem-
brane deformations incurred at Mode C comprise of travelling
waveforms and these waveforms determine the flapping ampli-
tudes, A, when they reach the membrane trailing-edge. Hence,
strain is more dependent upon the extent to which the membrane
is deformed (and hence flapping amplitude), rather than the flap-
ping frequency. For the low aspect-ratio PET membrane studied
here at least, large flapping amplitude and sub-optimal fre-
quency-ratio configurations are expected to produce higher strain
energy than small flapping amplitude and optimal frequency-ratio
configurations.
Closer inspection of the results in Fig. 12a will reveal that the
mean strain distribution is highly non-uniform along the length

−4 −5
x 10 x 10
1.4 7
ReD=5600 0.6m eel
ReD=10800 6 0.9m eel
1.2 ReD=12000 1.2m eel
5
1
4
0.8
2

ε2

3
ε

0.6
2
0.4
1

0.2 0

0 −1
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
x/L x/L
(a) (b)
Fig. 12. Squared-strain distribution along the membrane length for the (a) present membrane at various Reynolds numbers and (b) membranes studied by Techet et al. [3].
160
−9
x 10
2.5
Mode A
2
Strain energy P
1.5
1
0.5
0
3000
Fig. 13. Average strain energy harvested by membrane at different Reynolds numbers.
of the membrane, regardless of the Reynolds number used. This is in
good agreement with that observed by Techet et al. [3] for mem-
branes of different aspect-ratios. It should be noted however, that
high aspect-ratio membranes used by Techet et al. [3] typically pro-
duce relatively more irregular strain distributions, especially for the
shortest membrane. Comparisons between Fig. 12a and b show
additional interesting discrepancies between the strain distribu-
tions of small and high aspect-ratio membranes. Firstly, for low as-
pect-ratio membranes, comparatively higher strain levels typically
exist between x/L = 0.2–0.9 locations of the membrane. At
ReD = 10,800 and 12,000, maximum strain exists at approximately
x/L = 0.34, with another smaller strain peak occurring at approxi-
mately x/L = 0.65. At a lower Reynolds number of ReD = 5600, only
one strain maximum exists at approximately x/L = 0.4. In contrast,
for all membranes shown in Fig. 12b, maximum strain is incurred
between approximately x/L = 0.05–0.08 locations, which are far
more upstream than those for low aspect-ratio membranes. While
this difference may be caused by the membrane leading-edge being
attached to the bluff body via a spring in Techet et al. [3], compar-
atively larger stiffness for low aspect-ratio membranes appears to
contribute towards a downstream shift in the peak strain location
as well. Secondly, only the shortest membrane among those pre-
sented in Fig. 12b possesses distinctive multiple strain maxima
along the length of the membrane (i.e. at approximately x/L = 0.36
and 0.7). This trend is quite similar to the cases in Fig. 12a at
ReD = 10,800 and 12,000, though they only have two strain maxima
each. Lastly, the strain levels for low aspect-ratio membranes are
expected to be generally higher than high aspect-ratio membranes.
This can be explained by the higher stiffness levels of low
aspect-ratio membranes, where successful deformations require
extracting higher levels from the wake vortices to be converted into
membrane strain. Classical beam bending theory dictates that a
shorter membrane will be less susceptible towards bending or in
this case, deflection, by the wake vortices. Therefore, their success-
ful deformations require extracting higher levels from the wake
vortices to be converted into membrane strain.
At this point, after the strain distribution along the membrane
length has been discussed, it will be insightful to look at the total
strain energy available for electrical energy production in the pres-
ent membranes at different Reynolds numbers. To do that, the
maximum available strain energy in the membrane is calculated
according to
Z was from ReD = 3200–12,000. Results obtained show that three dis-
EI L
ð@ 2 y=@x2 Þ2
P¼ dx
2 0 ½1 þ ð@y=@xÞ2 3
S. Shi et al. / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 46 (2013) 151–161
Mode B Mode C
−22 3.4
P=0.38*10 (Re D )
Region(III)
Region(II)
−13
P=0.8*10 Re D
Region(I)
4000 5000 6000 7000 8000 9000 10000 11000 12000
ReD
where E is the membrane Young’s modulus, I is the 2nd moment of
area and L is the length of the membrane. Instantaneous membrane
strain energy distributions deduced from 35,000 image frames are
averaged at each test Reynolds number and presented in Fig. 13.
It can be observed from the figure that for Mode A and B membrane
flapping (i.e. ReD = 3200–6800), the average strain energy grows lin-
early with the Reynolds number and scales with ReD. As mentioned
earlier, this is might be due to the significant damping effects pro-
vided by the low aspect-ratio membranes upon the wake vortices
which arguably produce small membrane curvatures, flapping
amplitudes and frequencies.
As for Mode C (i.e. ReD = 6800–12,000), changes in the total
strain energy can be correlated generally to the variations in
frequency-ratio observed earlier. Firstly, region (I) where sub-
optimal coupling between the membrane and wake vortices (i.e.
fm/fv < 1, ReD < 10,400) occurs approximately between ReD = 6800–
10,000. Secondly, region (II) where optimal coupling exists
(i.e. fm/fv = 1) between ReD = 10,400–10,800 and the membrane
flapping and wake -shedding frequencies are similar. Lastly, region
(III) where it is beyond region (II) between ReD = 10,800–12,000,
where the frequency-ratio falls below fm/fv = 1 again. It is interest-
ing to note that when the flapping behaviour approaches or is at
optimal coupling conditions, the total strain energy exhibits some
fluctuations which are not seen in sub-optimal coupling conditions
and may be due to resonance effects arising from the frequency
lock-in. Despite these different flow regimes, they have little
bearing upon the growth rate of strain energy in the membrane
as the Reynolds number increases. In fact, for Mode C in general,
the strain energy growth rate scales with Re3:4D within the present
Reynolds number range. More importantly, Fig. 13 demonstrates
that, for the low aspect-ratio PET membrane studied here, the rela-
tionship between the level of harvestable energy and Reynolds
number is a relatively straight-forward and scalable one.
4. Conclusions
Using high-speed imaging, the flapping dynamics of a low as-
pect-ratio PET membrane located in the wake region of a square
cylinder have been investigated in terms of the flapping amplitude,
frequency, strain energy distribution along the membrane length
and total strain energy. The range of Reynolds number tested here
ð1Þ tinct flapping modes are possible with the present configuration.
Mode A occurs when the Reynolds number is less than
 S. Shi et al. / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 46 (2013) 151–161
ReD = 4000 and demonstrates simple cantilever oscillations. As the
Reynolds number increases to between ReD = 4000–6800, Mode B
flapping exists where it consists both Mode A and limited travel-
ling waves. In contrast, Mode C is present between ReD = 6800–
12,000, where it consists of quasi-periodical flapping behaviour.
Gross behaviour is similar to those observed in Allen and Smits
[2] and Techet et al. [3], despite significant differences in the mem-
brane aspect-ratios.
Flapping amplitude is observed to increase when Reynolds num-
ber increases, though occasional intermittencies in the flapping
behaviour are present within the Reynolds number range used
here. This is similar to earlier studies, though analysis here shows
that they tend to reduce with increasing Reynolds number. Below
ReD = 6000, the frequency-ratio decreases when the Reynolds
number is increased. On the other hand, it remains relatively flat
between ReD = 6000–10,000. These observations are in contrast
to high aspect-ratio membranes investigated in earlier studies.
However, beyond ReD = 10,000, the frequency-ratio increases
drastically to a value of unity at ReD = 10,800 and shows frequency
lock-in behaviour with the wake vortices. Strain energy distribu-
tions along the membrane length are found to vary significantly
with their magnitudes increasing with the Reynolds number. This
is in general agreement with Allen and Smits [2], where their
shortest eel produced the most non-uniform strain energy distribu-
tions as well. Lastly, the total amount of energy harvestable, as
estimated from the strain incurred by the membrane, is found to
increase and scale well with the Reynolds number. For Modes A
and B, the total harvestable energy is a linear function of the
Reynolds number. On the other hand, that for Mode C scales with
Re3:4
D and indicates that for the present membrane, higher energy
production is expected at higher Reynolds numbers if the
frequency-ratio remains relatively high.
Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support
from National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos.
51106096 and 51176108) and Nanyang Technological University
Tan Chin Tuan Exchange Fellowship in Engineering for the present
study.
161
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