Dynamics of Insect-Based Flapping Wings: Loads Validation

This paper presents an aeroelastic analysis for hover-capable, biomimetic flapping wings. Biomimetic flapping-pitching mechanisms reported in literature, usually operate in oil or water at very low flapping frequencies. In contrast, the mechanism used in this study operates in air, at relatively high frequencies. Because of this, the light-weight and highly flexible wings used in this study may have significant aeroelastic eects which need to be investigated. In this paper, a finite element based structural analysis of the wing is described, alongwith an unsteady aerodynamic analysis based on indicial functions. The analysis is validated with experimental data available in literature, and also with experimental tests conducted on the biomimetic flapping-pitching mechanism. Results for both elastic and rigid wing analyses are compared with the thrust measured on the biomimetic flapping-pitching mechanism.

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