Simulating moth wing aerodynamics - Towards the development of flapping-wing technology

The mechanization of flapping-wing flight is addressed. A tethered moth's flapping wings are simulated using an unsteady aerodynamic panel method and accounts for wing flexibility using a finite element model. The resultant simulation code delineates both the aerodynamic and inertial forces acting on flapping, flexible wings undergoing arbitrary motion in the presence of large-scale vortices and establishes the importance of including the wake in the unsteady analysis of flapping flexible wings. A switching pattern is discovered where the magnitude and direction of the aerodynamic force are decoupled, thereby pointing to a means whereby control is achieved. Overall, important groundwork necessary for the establishment of the principles of flapping-wing flight is laid, leading to the development of a highly agile, alternative flight technology.

[1]  E. Polhamus.  Predictions of vortex-lift characteristics based on a leading-edge suction analogy. , 1971 .

[2]  Smith,et al.  The advantages of an unsteady panel method in modelling the aerodynamic forces on rigid flapping wings , 1996, The Journal of experimental biology.

[3]  R. Archer,et al.  A Study of the Mechanics of Flapping Wings , 1974 .

[4]  J. Katz,et al.  Low-Speed Aerodynamics , 1991 .

[5]  Klaus-Jürgen Bathe,et al.  SAP 4: A Structural Analysis Program for Static and Dynamic Response of Linear Systems , 1974 .

[6]  C. Ellington.  The Aerodynamics of Hovering Insect Flight. I. The Quasi-Steady Analysis , 1984 .

[7]  Peretz P. Friedmann,et al.  Formulation and solution of rotary-wing aeroelastic stability and response problems , 1983 .

[8]  C. E. Lan,et al.  The unsteady quasi-vortex-lattice method with applications to animal propulsion , 1979, Journal of Fluid Mechanics.

[9]  Franz Villinger,et al.  Man Powered Flight in 1929 , 1960 .

[10]  Kari Appa,et al.  Finite-surface spline , 1989 .

[11]  T. Weis-Fogh,et al.  Biology and physics of locust flight. V. Strength and elasticity of locust cuticle , 1962, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences.

[12]  R. N. Desmarais,et al.  Interpolation using surface splines. , 1972 .

[13]  J. D. DeLaurier,et al.  A study of mechanical flapping-wing flight , 1993, The Aeronautical Journal (1968).

[14]  C. Rees.  Form and function in corrugated insect wings , 1975, Nature.

[15]  C. Rees.  Aerodynamic properties of an insect wing section and a smooth aerofoil compared , 1975, Nature.

[16]  Geoffrey Spedding,et al.  The Aerodynamics of Flight , 1992 .

[17]  K. Kawachi,et al.  An extension of the local momentum theory to a distorted wake model of a hovering rotor , 1981 .

[18]  Joseph Katz,et al.  Unsteady aerodynamic model of flapping wings , 1996 .

[19]  Paul B. MacCready,et al.  Development of a Wing-Flapping Flying Replica of the Largest Pterosaur , 1985 .

[20]  Michael R. Dudley,et al.  Development and validation of an advanced low-order panel method , 1988 .

[21]  R. A. East,et al.  An unsteady lifting line theory of flapping wings with application to the forward flight of birds , 1981, Journal of Fluid Mechanics.

[22]  Michael John Clarke Smith.  Simulating flapping insect wings using an aerodynamic panel method: Towards the development of flapping-wing technology , 1995 .

[23]  P. Wilkin,et al.  Comparison of the Aerodynamic Forces on a Flying Sphingid Moth with Those Predicted by Quasi-Steady Theory , 1993, Physiological Zoology.