The energy harvesting performances of an isolated flapping wing and a tandem-flapping-wing system are numerically studied using a high-order flux reconstruction method with sliding meshes. It is found that, even at a moderate Reynolds number, viscous force has negligible contribution to energy harvesting, while pressure has dominant effects. Meanwhile, heaving motion is noticed to play a more vital role in energy harvesting than pitching motion. Through flow field visualization, it is also observed that the effective angle of attack greatly alters leading edge and trailing edge vortices and in turn affects energy harvesting. The tandem-wing simulation reveals that, when well positioned, the system exhibits higher energy efficiency than an isolated wing under the same flow conditions.
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