Stiffness Investigation of Synthetic Flapping Wings for Hovering Flight

Chang, Kelvin; Chaudhuri, Anirban; Tang, Jayson; Hall, Jordan R. Van; Ifju, Peter; Haftka, Raphael T.; Tyler, Christopher; Schmitz, Tony L.

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-06986-9_28

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…The differences in mean thrust between the methods can possibly be attributed to the differences in stiffness of the constructions. In subsequent work, the stiffness [41] is characterized for wings made in the plastic construction.…”

Section: A Thrust Force Uncertaintymentioning

confidence: 99%

Improving the Fabrication Process of Micro-Air-Vehicle Flapping Wings

Chang¹,

Chaudhuri²,

Rue³

et al. 2015

AIAA Journal

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The aerodynamic performance of flapping micro air vehicles in hover conditions is dependent on many parameters, including the wing design. With the goal of optimizing the wing for hover performance, the initial focus was to reduce the uncertainty in the thrust measurements. This is because lower uncertainty in this metric enables better resolution in comparing the performance of different designs. Aerodynamic performance variability was deemed to be the fault of an imprecise manufacturing technique. Therefore, adjustments were made to the fabrication process until a permissible level of uncertainty was attained for optimization; the goal was less than 5%. This paper chronicles the progression of the wing fabrication process and details how the uncertainty was evaluated. Four fabrication methods and two different wing designs are included in this study: a carbon fiber hand layup technique, carbon fiber cured in a machined mold, and two variations of a machined plastic skeleton reinforced with a carbon fiber rod. The uncertainty in thrust production, expressed in coefficient of variation, improved from 16.8% for the hand layup method to 2.6% for the computer numerically controlled plastic skeleton adhered to the nylon membrane with transfer tape. Additionally, the coefficient of variation for wing weight also reduced (from 11.4 to 2.0%). Nomenclature C 4 = bias correction factor CV mfg = manufacturing coefficient of variation CV tot = total coefficient of variation CV test = testing coefficient of variation n = samples

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Section: A Thrust Force Uncertaintymentioning

confidence: 99%