Design and Analysis of Wing Structures of Micro Air Vehicles

Abstract A flapping wing approach has proven to be one of the most successful methods in designing the micro aerial vehicles (MAVs). These miniature vehicles seek to mimic small birds and insects to achieve never before seen agility in the flight. This paper aims at design of different wing structures and their finite element analysis using ABAQUS under various aerodynamic forces at different altitudes. Two types of wings i.e. high speed wings and soaring wings are considered in the present investigation with two different structural designs. The wing structures are made with carbon fiber materials in the present investigation. The present work uses the quasi-steady aerodynamic modeling. Herein, some robust theoretical wing designs are proposed and analyzed for their deformation under various aerodynamic forces such as lift, drag, and thrust. Results shows that design of wings and its target fly altitude governs the overall performance of the MAVs. Finite element analysis (FEA) confirms that such study helps in wing design formulation and can be used in efficient building of a MAV by the designers.