Energy harvesting from wind-induced bridge vibrations via electromagnetic transduction

Energy harvesting from wind-induced vibrations of long-span bridges through electromagnetic devices is herein addressed. A coupled model, describing the bridge structure excited by aeroelastic wind forces and equipped with harvesting devices mounted along the bridge girder, is derived by reducing bridge dynam- ics via a modal analysis. The model is employed to maximise the harvested power with respect to the stiffness and the electromagnetic damping parameter of the harvesting devices, depending on the char- acteristics of the approaching wind flow. Numerical results obtained in the case of a bridge-like structure similar to the Great Belt East Bridge are presented and discussed, showing model soundness and effec- tiveness. The influence of the dynamical coupling among principal structure and harvesting devices on the harvesting process is investigated. Moreover, in order to overcome possible feasibility drawbacks related to a real-time adjustment of harvester parameters, a simplified tuning procedure is proposed, resulting effective in a wide wind-speed range.