Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access

Aerodynamic Load Modeling for Structural Analysis of a Flapping Wing

Hoon Cheol Park

Abstract


Wing is one of the most important structures in a flapping wing vehicle. Besides determining the aerodynamic performances of the vehicle, its frames also carry the aerodynamic load transferred from the wing membrane. Hence, the structure of wing for a flapping-wing micro aerial vehicle (FW-MAV) should be well designed and carefully studied. In order to investigate bending and twisting characteristics of a flapping wing, we have built a simple FEM model using 3-nodes-beam elements for the frames and 6-nodes-triangular elements for the membranes. We have
studied three models of loading for the mid-downstroke stage and applied those loading cases on the wing then calculated the deflection of the wing. The comparison between the simulation results and measurement by high-speed camera images of the wing showed that uniform load over the area can reasonably represents the wing bending and twisting characteristics even though the non-uniformly distributed load model provided more accurate deformation.

Full Text:

PDF

References


J. McGahan, Journal of Experimental Biology 58. (1973)

T.Weis-Fogh, Journal of Experimental Biology 59. (1973)

D.E. Alexander, Nature’s Flyer (The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002)

Dickinson, M.H., Lehmann, F.O., Sane, S.P. “Wing Rotation and The Aerodynamics Basis of Insect Flight,” Science, 284: 1954-1960 (1999)

Ellington, C.P. “The Novel Aerodynamics of Insect Flight: Application to Micro Air Vehicles,” Journal of Experimental Biology, 202: 3439-3448 (1999)

“Fixed and Flapping Wing Aerodynamics for Micro Air Vehicle Applications”, edited by T.J. Mueller, AIAA (2001)

Joon Hyuk Park, Kwang-Joon Yoon, “Designing a Biomimetic Ornithopter Capable of Sustained and Controlled Flight,“ Journal of Bionic Engineering, Vol. 5, pp.39-47. (2008)

M.F. Neef and D. Hummel, “Euler Solution For a Finite-Span Flapping Wing” in Fixed and Flapping Wing Aerodynamics for Micro Air Vehicle Application edited by T.J. Mueller, AIAA. (2001)

K.C. Hall and S. Hall, “A Rational Engineering Analysis of The Efficiency of Flapping Flight” in Fixed and Flapping Wing Aerodynamics for Micro Air Vehicle Application edited by T.J. Mueller, AIAA. (2001)

Miao, J.-M. and M.-H. Ho, “Effect of Flexure on Aerodynamic Propulsive Efficiency of Flapping Flexible Airfoil.” Journal of Fluids and Structures, 22: p. 401-419. (2006)

Read, D.A., F.S. Hover, and M.S. Triantafyllou, “Forces On Oscillating Foils For Propulsion And Maneuvering” Journal of Fluids and Structures. 17: p. 163-183.( 2003)

Heathcote, S., D. Martin, and I. Gursul, “Flexible Flapping Airfoil Propulsion At Zero Freestream Velocity”. AIAA Journal. 42(11): p. 2196-2204. (2004)

Jones R.T. “Wing Flapping with Minimum Energy” Aeronautical Journal, Vol 84,pp.214-217. (1980)

Hall, K,C., and Hall, S. R., “Minimum Induced Power Requirements For Flapping Flight,” Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Vol. 323,,pp. 285-315. (1996)




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.21535%2FProICIUS.2009.v5.565

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.