2D Quasi-Steady Flow Simulation of an Actual Flapping Wing

This paper deals about the dynamic behavior of flapping wing with an aid of stereo photography measurement using charge coupled device (CCD) camera. The three dimensional (3D) flapping motion was captured and coordinates are measured with the specific markers on the wing. The curved surface fitting was obtained from the 3D discrete coordinates using SURFER software. Consequently, a two dimensional (2D) cross section of flapping motion of the wing surface is sliced from 3D mesh. It was used further for the quasi-steady state computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulation in Fluent. Utilizing two adjacent 2D trajectories, the upwind direction of flow filed was computed which is a novel idea considered in this study. The computed dynamic velocity was considered to be input for the CFD analysis. The velocity and pressure distribution due to quasi-steady state flapping motion is observed in Fluent. The unsteady lift coefficient was obtained which was compared with experimental results from the wind tunnel. It was observed that, both theoretical and experimental results shows similar trend to validate the assumptions considered in the study.