Aerodynamic performance of flexible flapping wings deformed by slack angle

Abstract

Wing flexibility is unavoidable for flapping wing flyers to ensure a lightweight body and for higher payload allowances on board. It also effectively minimizes the inertia force from high-frequency wingbeat motion. However, related studies that attempt to clarify the essence of wing flexibility remain insufficient. Here, a parametric study of a flexible wing was conducted as part of the effort to build an aerodynamic model and analyze its aerodynamic performance. The quasi-steady modeling was adopted with experimentally determined translational forces. These forces were determined from 84 flexible wing cases while varying the angle of attack at the wing root α r and the flexibility parameter, slack angle θ S, with 19 additional rigid wing cases. This study found α r for optimum lift generation to exceed 45° irrespective of θ S. The coefficient curves were well-fitted with a cubed-sine function. The model was rigorously validated with various wing kinematics, giving a good estimation of the experimental results. The estimated error was less than 5%, 6%, and 8% for the lift, drag, and moment, respectively, considering fast to moderate wing kinematics. The study was extended to analyze the pure aerodynamic performance of the flexible wing. The most suitable wing for a flapping-wing micro-aerial vehicle wing design with a simple vein structure was found to be the 5° slack-angled wing. The inference from this study further shows that a small amount of deformation is needed to increase the lift, as observed in natural flyers. Thus, wing deformation could allow living flyers to undertake less pitching motion in order to reduce the mechanical power and increase the efficiency of their wings.