In this article, we assess the feasibility of energy harvesting from mechanical buckling of ionic polymer metal composites induced by a steady fluid flow. Specifically, we consider an underwater energy harvester composed of a paddle wheel, a slider-crank mechanism, and two ionic polymer metal composites clamped at both their ends. To enhance electromechanical transduction, the electrodes of the ionic polymer metal composites are split into three parts via a selective platinum deposition process. The system is installed in a water tunnel and experiments are performed to elucidate the influence of both the flow speed and the shunting resistance on energy harvesting. To provide a theoretical interpretation of the experimental results, the classical post-buckling theory of inextensible elastic beams is adapted to predict mechanical deformations and a lumped-circuit model is utilized to estimate the harvested power.
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