Static structural and aerodynamics analysis of 3D printed flapping wing mechanism of butterfly inspired ornithopter

Abstract

The wing flapping motion of butterfly is more straight forward, and its wing morphology is simple. The wingspan is also large enough to make it as a mid-size ornithopter. Based on these reasons, the ornithopter based upon the morphology of butterfly is studied. The objective of this three-dimensional numerical study is to investigate the butterfly ornithopter for its aerodynamic parameters for varied angle of attacks (-6° to 6°) and perform static structural analysis on the 3D printed flapping wing mechanism. The materials chosen for the wing is polypropylene fumarate, carbon fibre rods and Mylar films. The investigations are carried out using ANSYS Mechanical Workbench and ANSYS Fluent. The shear stress is evenly distributed throughout the wing structure for both the applied load conditions. Moreover, the maximum values of equivalent stress and equivalent elastic strain is observed in local concentrations at the position where the Mylar film material wing membrane is connected to the carbon fibre rod. The deformation pattern is maximum at the wingtips (0.08569 for pressure 4.8 Pa; 0.067697 for pressure 3.8 Pa) and minimal near the support sections. The maximum lift with minimum drag is observed at angle of attack + 2°.