Flow-induced flapping of an inverted flag with non-uniform stiffness distribution

We perform high-fidelity, two-dimensional (2D), fluid-structure interaction (FSI) simulations at a Reynolds number of = 200 of uniform flow past an inverted flag (i.e., clamped at its trailing edge). The inverted flag system can exhibit large-amplitude flapping motions (on the order of the flag length) that can be converted to electricity via, e.g., piezoelectric materials. We investigate the effect of structural nonuniformity in altering the FSI dynamics compared with the uniform-stiffness scenario that has been thoroughly characterized. We consider linear, quadratic, and cubic stiffness distributions, and demonstrate that the FSI dynamics mirror those of a uniform-stiffness flag with an appropriately defined effective stiffness. We show that this effective stiffness can be computed simply via analysis of an in-vacuo Euler-Bernoulli beam. When expressed in terms of the effective stiffness, the FSI dynamics of the nonuniform-stiffness flag exhibit the same regimes—with many similarities in the detailed dynamics—as a uniform-stiffness flag. This study opens questions about (i) what the optimal stiffness distribution is for, e.g., energy harvesting capacity, and (ii) how to use nonuniform (and possibly time-varying) stiffness distributions to control the flag dynamics towards a desired state.