Abstract
Over the last decades, there has been great interest in understanding the aerodynamics of flapping flight and development of flapping wing Micro Air Vehicles (FWMAVs). The camber deformation and twisting has been demonstrated quantitatively in a number of insects, but making artificial wings that mimic those features is a challenge. This paper reports the development and characterization of artificial wings that can reproduce camber and twisting deformations. By replacing the elastic material at the wing root vein, the root vein would bend upward and inward generating an angle of attack, camber, and twisting deformations while the wing was flapping due to the aerodynamic forces acting on the wing. The flapping wing apparatus was employed to study the flexible wing kinematics and aerodynamics of real scale insect wings. Multidisciplinary experiments were conducted to provide the natural frequency, the force production, three-dimensional wing kinematics, and the effects of wing flexibility experienced by the flexible wings. The results have shown that the present artificial wing was able to mimic the two important features of insect wings: twisting and camber generation. From the force measurement, it is found that the wing with the uniform deformation showed the higher lift/power generation in the flapping wing system. The present developed artificial wing suggests a new guideline for the bio-inspired wing of the FWMAV.
Highlights
Insects are well adapted for flight [1]
We developed and employed the flapping wing apparatus to study the flexible wing kinematics and the aerodynamics of a real scale insect wing
Since the first three resonant frequencies are critical in characterizing the response of the artificial wing in this study, three resonant frequencies are critical in characterizing the response of the artificial wing in this we are concerned with only the first three modes in the Frequency Response Function (FRF) diagram
Summary
Insects are well adapted for flight [1]. The excellent flight performance of insects is primarily attributable to their large power-to-weight ratio [2]. Wing flexibility is believed to be a key factor for the aerodynamic performance of insect flight [5]. Wing interaction characteristics and flexibility during the flapping motion are primary issues because they are believed to be the main reasons for the best aerodynamic performance of a flying insect [6]. A recent investigation of the effect of wing camber deformations on aerodynamic performance shows that wing deformations are important for enhancing efficiency [7]. The significance of wing camber deformation was evident in a wide range of insect groups, such as dragonflies, moths, honeybees, locusts, and hover flies [5]. In the flight of a dragonfly, a positive camber deformation of the hind wing during a downstroke generates a vertical force, whereas a negative camber deformation of the wing during an upstroke generates a thrust force [9]. Spanwise flexibility was found to be beneficial for thrust generation in a numerical study on Aerospace 2017, 4, 37; doi:10.3390/aerospace4030037 www.mdpi.com/journal/aerospace
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