Insights into Sensitivity of Wing Shape and Kinematic Parameters Relative to Aerodynamic Performance of Flapping Wing Nano Air Vehicles

G Throneberry,M Hassanalian,A Abdelkefi

doi:10.3390/drones3020049

G Throneberry, M Hassanalian + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/drones3020049

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Abstract

In this work, seven wings inspired from insects’ wings, including those inspired by the bumblebee, cicada, cranefly, fruitfly, hawkmoth, honeybee, and twisted parasite, are patterned and analyzed in FlapSim software in forward and hovering flight modes for two scenarios, namely, similar wingspan (20 cm) and wing surface (0.005 m2). Considering their similar kinematics, the time histories of the aerodynamic forces of lift, thrust, and required mechanical power of the inspired wings are calculated, shown, and compared for both scenarios. The results obtained from FlapSim show that wing shape strongly impacts the performance and aerodynamic characteristics of the chosen seven wings. To study the effects of different geometrical and physical factors including flapping frequency, elevation amplitude, pronation amplitude, stroke-plane angle, flight speed, wing material, and wingspan, several analyses are carried out on the honeybee-inspired shape, which had a 20 cm wingspan. This study can be used to evaluate the efficiency of different bio-inspired wing shapes and may provide a guideline for comparing the performance of flapping wing nano air vehicles with forward flight and hovering capabilities.

Highlights

Advancements in drone technologies have guided drone researchers to design, manufacture, and implement small size drones in order to perform complicated missions which larger drones are unable to perform efficiently [1,2,3,4,5]
Flight speed must be considered throughout the design affected by the increase in speed but lift and thrust show similar trends until about m/s, after which. This shows that speed should be acarefully selected for each of flapping wingFigure to enhance the phaseflight and it can be seen that it has large impact on the performance the air vehicle
An aerodynamic analysis was performed for seven insect-inspired wings in FlapSim in order to investigate the role of wing geometry and kinematic parameters on the performance of flapping wing air vehicles

Summary

Introduction

Advancements in drone technologies have guided drone researchers to design, manufacture, and implement small size drones in order to perform complicated missions which larger drones are unable to perform efficiently [1,2,3,4,5]. For the forward flight study, a modified strip theory was employed and verified for two types of birds, the jackdaw and mew gull, and applied for the seven wings, with a particular focus on the impacts of the dynamic twist on the performance of bio-inspired NAVs [17] In this strip theory analysis, to determine the aerodynamic loads on the wing, each wingspan half was divided into 12 equal sections and the aerodynamic properties were calculated as an integral over the full wingspan. In order to compare theeffects wing of shapes of the aforementioned insect-inspired wings and to investigate the kinematics and different parameters on the aerodynamic forces and in forward hovering flight modes, predictive simulation methods in FlapSim software andpower to investigate the and kinematics and effects of different parameters on the aerodynamic forces and wereinused.

Shapes conclusions presentedWing in Section

Calculating the Moment of Inertia for the Wings

Conclusions

The of motion