Flapping wing energy harvesting: aerodynamic aspects

Abstract

Aerodynamic forces on flapping wings create forward thrust. Natural flyers like birds and insects apply these forces effectively. Extensive studies have shown that the efficiency of flapping wings can be improved by various means. Of importance is the development and control of leading edge vortices (LEV’s). Thrust production means that energy is transferred from the flapping system into the fluid. In a similar way it can be achieved that energy flows from the fluid into the flapping system, i.e. fluid energy may be harvested. Responsible for the direction of energy flow is the ratio of pitching amplitude versus amplitude of the induced incidence of the plunging motion. If this ratio is smaller than unity thrust energy is produced; if it is larger than unity energy is transferred into the flapping system. In the present paper, emphasis is placed on the detailed study of the aerodynamic effects and on some ideas of optimization of energy harvesting of a flapping system. It will be shown that similar to the thrust production mode also in the energy harvesting mode, the influence of LEV’s is of major concern. The control of these vortices by airfoil deformation is shown to be beneficial for optimizing the efficiency of energy harvesting.