Free vibration analyses of lattice sandwich beams with general elastic supports have rarely been discussed in this field’s literature. In this paper, a unified method is proposed to study the free vibration characteristics of lattice sandwich beams under various boundary conditions. The proposed method is to convert the three truss cores of lattice sandwich beams into an equivalent homogeneous layer and introduce two different types of constraint springs to simulate the general elastic support boundary at both ends of lattice sandwich beams. By changing the rigidity of the boundary restraint spring, various boundary conditions can be easily obtained without modifying the solving algorithm and solving process. In order to overcome all the discontinuities or jumps associated with the elastic boundary support conditions, the displacement function of lattice sandwich beams is usually obtained as an improved Fourier cosine series along with four sine terms. On this basis, the unknown series coefficients of the displacement function are treated as the generalized coordinates and solved using the Rayleigh–Ritz method. The correctness of the present method is verified through comparison with existing literature. The calculation results of the present method are highly accurate, indicating that the present method is suitable for analyzing the vibration characteristics of lattice sandwich beams with general elastic supports. In addition, the effects of beam length, panel thickness, core height, radius and truss inclination on the natural frequencies of lattice sandwich beams with arbitrary boundary conditions have been discussed in this paper.

It is rather challenging to collect ocean wave energy at high efficiency because of its ultra-low frequencies and variable amplitudes. Triboelectric Nanogenerator (TENG) technology is more suitable for harvesting low-frequency than electromagnetic power generation technology. In this work, we designed a built-in cylindrical Triboelectric Nanogenerator (C-TENG) installed inside the ocean buoy (BUOY-41). The hydrodynamic properties of the C-TENG are consistent with the ocean buoy, which are calculated by CFD software (Star-CCM+). The Energy Capture Properties of the C-TENG are established by the finite element software (COMSOL). The C-TENG has high power density (30 mW/m²) and can meet the power demand of the ocean buoy (10 mW). The implementation of the present work is of great academic value and practical significance for the development of efficient marine renewable energy conversion technology, enhancement of marine equipment energy replenishment, enrichment of hydrodynamic theories and revealing of the complex mechanisms.