Dissection of a Flexible Wing's Performance for Insect-Inspired Flapping-Wing Micro Air Vehicles

Guang, Lu; Yan, Jianguo; Zhang, Zhisheng; Shi, Jinfei; Yao, Yan

doi:10.1163/156855311x617443

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Tobing et al. 26 further investigated the flexibility effects on wing propulsion from an earlier study done by Lu et al., 91 which used a 2D bumblebee wing model, using a 3D bumblebee wing model. Results indicated that the lift force of the 3D flexible wing was around 30% higher than that of the rigid one because the twist and bending deformations of a flexible wing balanced the pressures on its surfaces.…”

Section: Effects On Wing Aerodynamic Performancementioning

confidence: 99%

Recent progress in flexibility effects on wing aerodynamics and acoustics

Prapamonthon

Yin

Yang

et al. 2020

Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part C:

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Since the theoretical aeroelasticity for flapping-wing aerodynamics was introduced in the 1920s, the effects of flexibility on aeroelasticity have been paid more attention to aerodynamic design. In recent years, the trait of the wing flexibility is applied for small-scale wings of biomimetic flyers including micro air vehicles and mini unmanned aerial vehicles. Until now, the aerodynamic performance and great agility of these flyers, which are beneficially used for military missions and other civilian applications, have been improved through surrogate flapping wings with the favorable effects of the flexibility. As per the aeroelasticity principle for the forward flying, the chordwise flexibility of an elastic flapping wing can generate thrust and lift redistributions, whereas the spanwise flexibility can result in variations of the angle of attack and the shift of phase along the wingspan direction. Consequently, all vortices generated by the flapping wing i.e. (1) leading-edge vortices, (2) tip vortices, and (3) trailing-edge vortices are blended supportively, thereby improving the aerodynamic performance and agility. Hence, the growth of research and development of the aerodynamic performance and agility for these flyers under the influence of flexible wings increases through experimental and computational studies dynamically and rapidly. This review aims to highlight the important role of the flexibility in the recent progress in wing aerodynamics of these flyers through several wing models done by famous groups of experts in this field. In addition, this review includes the acoustics of the wings under the flexibility effects which is considered as a new key for better flyer design and improvement. A comprehensive understanding of the integrated aerodynamics and acoustics under the wing flexibility is, therefore, needed.

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Section: Effects On Wing Aerodynamic Performancementioning

confidence: 99%

Recent progress in flexibility effects on wing aerodynamics and acoustics

Prapamonthon

Yin

Yang

et al. 2020

Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part C:

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“…After a series of research and discussions, University of Toronto and the California SRI International research division of the USA developed a flapping-wing aircraft by imitating the dragonfly flying attitude. The aircraft had become the first successful ornithopter which can hover for 10 min at a time, and the related researches are still expanding and deepening (Tanaka et al, 2005;Hu et al, 2011;Wei et al, 2011;Lu et al, 2012;Mahjoub and Byl, 2012;Pin et al, 2009;Nguyen et al, 2008Nguyen et al, , 2009Katie, 2011, 2012;William et al, 2004;Bontemps et al, 2012;Robert, 2008) for promoting new design concepts for future insect-inspired flapping-wing micro-aerial vehicles, and even the wings and body of some model just like the real butterfly.…”

Section: Motor Ability and Bionic Applicationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recent achievements in bionic implementations of insect structure and functions

Liu

et al. 2014

Kybernetes

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Purpose – Entomology is a useful tool when applied to engineering challenges that have been solved in nature. Especially when these special abilities of olfactory sensation, vision, auditory perception, fly, jump, navigation, chemical synthesis, exquisite structure and others were connected with mechanization, informationization and intelligentization of modern science and technology, and produced innumerable classical bionic products. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – All kinds of special abilities of insects and application status have been described and discussed in order to summarize the advanced research examples and supply bibliographic reference to the latters. Future perspectives and challenges in the use of insect bionics were also given. Findings – In the period of life sciences and information sciences, insect bionics not only promoted the development of modern science and technology on the sides of mechanics, molecule, energy, information and control greatly but also provided new ideas and technologies for the crisis of science and technology, food, environment and ecosystem. Originality/value – It may provide strategies to solve the problems and be a source of good ideas for researchers.

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“…Various types of small flying robots have been developed. 1) Some centimeter-sized flying robots with beating wings [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] have been developed. Many flying robots with rotary wings have been developed as centimeter-or metersized drones.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Difficulty of Controlling a Flapping-wing Aircraft Compared to a Rotary-wing Aircraft

Kimura

Sunada

2023

Trans. Japan Soc. Aero. S Sci.

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The inherent stability of two-dimensional motion when hovering using beating wings that have a passive feathering motion is compared with that of rotary wings that have a passive flapping motion. The passive flapping motion of the rotary wings is determined by the bending elasticity, which is expressed by a spring at the wing root. The feathering motion of the beating wings is determined by the torsional elasticity, which is expressed by a damper and a spring at the wing root. The values of the damper and spring were determined by minimizing the necessary power in the present analysis. Unlike rotary wings with passive flapping motion, beating wings with passive feathering motion do not have pitch/roll damping. A flying robot with beating wings requires quicker flight control than one with rotary wings. The results indicate that a flying robot mimicking a living creature is more difficult to control than one with rotary wings.

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Dissection of a Flexible Wing's Performance for Insect-Inspired Flapping-Wing Micro Air Vehicles

Cited by 4 publications

References 19 publications

Recent progress in flexibility effects on wing aerodynamics and acoustics

Recent progress in flexibility effects on wing aerodynamics and acoustics

Recent achievements in bionic implementations of insect structure and functions

Difficulty of Controlling a Flapping-wing Aircraft Compared to a Rotary-wing Aircraft

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