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Experimental investigation of the effect of chordwise flexibility on the aerodynamics of flapping wings in hovering flight

Mazaheri, K ; Sharif University of Technology | 2010

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  1. Type of Document: Article
  2. DOI: 10.1016/j.jfluidstructs.2010.03.004
  3. Publisher: 2010
  4. Abstract:
  5. Ornithopters or mechanical birds produce aerodynamic lift and thrust through the flapping motion of their wings. Here, we use an experimental apparatus to investigate the effects of a wing's twisting stiffness on the generated thrust force and the power required at different flapping frequencies. A flapping wing system and an experimental set-up were designed to measure the unsteady aerodynamic and inertial forces, power usage and angular speed of the flapping wing motion. A data acquisition system was set-up to record important data with the appropriate sampling frequency. The aerodynamic performance of the vehicle under hovering (i.e., no wind) conditions was investigated. The lift and thrust that were produced were measured for different flapping frequencies and for various wings with different chordwise flexibilities. The results show the manner in which the elastic deformation and inertial flapping forces affect the dynamical behavior of the wing. It is shown that the generalization of the actuator disk theory is, at most, only valid for rigid wings, and for flexible wings, the power P varies by a power of about 1.0. of the thrust T. This aerodynamic information can also be used as benchmark data for unsteady flow solvers
  6. Keywords:
  7. Hovering flight ; Aerodynamic lift ; Aerodynamic performance ; Angular speed ; Benchmark data ; Data acquisition system ; Dynamical behaviors ; Experimental apparatus ; Experimental investigations ; Experimental setup ; Flapping frequency ; Flapping motion ; Flapping wing ; Flapping wing motion ; Flexible membrane wing ; Flexible membranes ; Inertial forces ; Power usage ; Sampling frequencies ; Thrust forces ; Unsteady aerodynamics ; Actuator disks ; Aerodynamics ; Aerospace vehicles ; Rigid wings ; Wings ; Flexible wings
  8. Source: Journal of Fluids and Structures ; Volume 26, Issue 4 , May , 2010 , Pages 544-558 ; 08899746 (ISSN)
  9. URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0889974610000381