Experimental Study of a Mechanical Flapping Rotary Wing Model

The effects of kinematic parameters (power input, rotational speed and initial angle of attack) of a newly proposed flapping rotary wing model on its averaged lifting force were studied experimentally. It was found that increasing the power input and wing initial angle of attack in a range (i.e. less than 15°) can increase averaged lifting force remarkably while rotational speed seems not to be a key variable determining the lift production. Besides, averaged lifting force could also be improved significantly and the wide range of initial angle of attack could be enlarged effectively to obtain higher averaged lifting force by wing structure selection properly. It was suggested that a proper selection of the wing structure, initial angle of attack (10° to 15°), and power input of the flapping rotary wing can be beneficial for a higher averaged lifting force production in the design of a micro air vehicle.