The Evaluation of a Biologically Inspired Engineered MAV Wing Compared to the <i>Manduca Sexta</i> Wing under Simulated Flapping Conditions

Manduca Sexta present excellent flight performances which make this insect an ideal candidate for bio-inspired engineered micro air vehicles. The actual insect presents an energetically very efficient thorax-wing flight system which needs to be fully understood for an effective design of artificial flying machines. This work discusses a preliminary finite element model which simulates the thorax-wing system and the muscles involved in the flapping motion. Both upstroke and downstroke conditions are statically analyzed with the application of load sets that simulate the contractions of the dorso-ventral and dorso-longitudinal muscles (indirect flight). Comparison with commercial software and experimental results is also presented and discussed.

Section: Background and Motivation Of The Present Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploratory Structural Investigation of a Hawkmoth-Inspired MAV's Thorax

Demasi

Palazotto

Hollenbeck

et al. 2012

“…8, the normalized average required power, P R decreases and the normalized roll acceleration, , increases if the function F is minimized. The normalized average required power, P R , and the normalized roll acceleration, , are defined by (9) respectively, to facilitate the optimization process. The wing model is divided equally into 10 strips, resulting in a total of 20 design variables (i.e., an independent chord length, c r and corresponding pitching amplitude, η r m , per wing strip).…”

Section: Combined Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To achieve this, one has to determine three things: (1) the optimal wing planform design, (2) the optimal hovering flapping kinematics, and (3) the most effective control action for the required body torque. Much analytical, numerical and experimental work has been done on the wing planform design and the wing flapping kinematics (e.g., [7,8,9,10,11,12]). This has resulted in wing planform designs and wing flapping kinematics which produce sufficient lift for hovering while consuming a minimum amount of power.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimal FWMAV Wing Design for a Combination of Energy-Effective Hovering and Roll Control

Peters

Goosen

Keulen

2015

Energy-effective hovering and active flight control are of paramount importance for the usefulness of Flapping Wing Micro Air Vehicles (FWMAVs). Recent studies have focused on separate parts (e.g., wing planform design, wing kinematics, or flight control) rather than on the complete system. This work presents a combined approach to find an optimal wing design (i.e., wing planform and pitching kinematics) for energy-effective hovering and roll control. Relatively simple mathematical descriptions are used for the kinematics, the aerodynamics and the roll motion to allow its use in optimization techniques. Results show that the wing design depends significantly on the relative importance of either energy-effective hovering or effective roll control during the optimization. The roll control effectiveness increases if the wing area around the wingtip is increased to push the center of lift outwards. Additionally, we show that the most effective control variable, to enforce the required body moment for the roll motion, depends strongly on the wing design. In conclusion, flapping wing design requires, in general, a combined approach to guarantee both energy-effective hovering and effective roll control.

“…They were designed through i) careful dissection of numerous biological specimens; ii) medical Computer Tomography (CT) scanning of the inner venation patterns to catalog their thickness and stiffness; iii) 3-D scanning laser tomography, with and without scales, to capture the precise wing planform shape; iv) 3-D finite element modeling to model the 1 st and 2 nd bending and torsion modes of the wing to aide in the design of a carbon fiber lay-up schematic so the man-made analog mimics the thickness, taper, camber and stiffness of the Hawkmoth, and accurately reproduces the same system structural dynamics; and v) an exhaustive precision laser CNC cutting technique developed to ensure accurate and repeatable manufacturing [22,23,24,25,26]. Figure 5 shows the finite element model of the engineered wing made from the material properties, modal testing, and 3-D rendering of the Manduca Sexta biological representative.…”

Section: Afit Engineered Wingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Experimental Investigation into the Effect of Flap Angles for a Piezo-Driven Wing

DeLuca¹,

Reeder

Cobb

2013

This article presents a comparison of results from six degree of freedom force and moment measurements and Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) data taken on the Air Force Institute of Technology's (AFIT) piezoelectrically actuated, biomimetically designed Hawkmoth, Manduca Sexta, class engineered wing, at varying amplitudes and flapping frequencies, for both trimmed and asymmetric flapping conditions to assess control moment changes. To preserve test specimen integrity, the wing was driven at a voltage amplitude 50% below the maximum necessary to achieve the maximal Hawkmoth total stroke angle. 86˚ and 65˚ stroke angles were achieved for the trimmed and asymmetric tests respectively. Flapping tests were performed at system structural resonance, and at ±10% off system resonance at a single amplitude, and PZT power consumption was calculated for each test condition. Two-dimensional PIV visualization measurements were taken transverse to the wing planform, recorded at the mid-span, for a single frequency and amplitude setting, for both trimmed and asymmetric flapping to correlate with the 6-DoF balance data. Linear velocity data was extracted from the 2-D PIV imagery at ± 1/2 and ±1 chord locations above and below the wing, and the mean velocities were calculated for four separate wing phases during the flap cycle. The mean forces developed during a flap cycle were approximated using a modification of the Rankine-Froude axial actuator disk model to calculate the transport of momentum flux as a measure of vertical thrust produced during a static hover flight condition. Values of vertical force calculated from the 2-D PIV measurements were within 20% of the 6-DOF force balance experiments. Power calculations confirmed flapping at system resonance required less power than at off resonance frequencies, which is a critical finding necessary for future vehicle design considerations.= balance moment in y-direction I or V rms = root mean square current/voltage P = mean power u = x-direction velocity w = z-direction velocity INTRODUCTIONThe confluence between biologists and engineers over the past 10-20 years have produced considerable research into the aerodynamics and flight mechanisms responsible for insect flight. Research, mainly from biologists, has revealed these amazing fliers develop more lift than their wings alone can generate through a standard aerodynamic static, or quasi-static treatment; meaning the additional lift is generated through the complex interaction of the flapping motion of the wings and the surrounding fluid medium. It is the study of this aerodynamic phenomenon, its characterization, and its particular application to the AFIT Flapping Wing Micro Air Vehicle (FWMAV) program, which is the topic of this research effort. With all the remarkable discoveries, and the litany of impressive military and civilian aircraft developed over the past 100 years, it was not until the last two decades that aerodynamicists have earnestly investigated the flight physics of nature's smallest fliers-insects. To ...