scholarly journals Schlieren photography on freely flying hawkmoth

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 20180198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yun Liu ◽  
Jesse Roll ◽  
Stephen Van Kooten ◽  
Xinyan Deng
Keyword(s):  
Aerodynamic Force ◽  
Leading Edge ◽  
Vortical Flow ◽  
Natural Setting ◽  
Optical Flow Method ◽  
Flying Insects ◽  
Flow Features ◽  
Potential Applications ◽  
Edge Vortex ◽  
Schlieren Photography

The aerodynamic force on flying insects results from the vortical flow structures that vary both spatially and temporally throughout flight. Due to these complexities and the inherent difficulties in studying flying insects in a natural setting, a complete picture of the vortical flow has been difficult to obtain experimentally. In this paper, Schlieren , a widely used technique for highspeed flow visualization, was adapted to capture the vortex structures around freely flying hawkmoth ( Manduca ). Flow features such as leading-edge vortex, trailing-edge vortex, as well as the full vortex system in the wake were visualized directly. Quantification of the flow from the Schlieren images was then obtained by applying a physics-based optical flow method, extending the potential applications of the method to further studies of flying insects.

Effect of pectoral fin kinematics on manta ray propulsion

2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (12n13) ◽  
pp. 1840025
Author(s):  
Hao Lu ◽  
Khoon Seng Yeo ◽  
Chee-Meng Chew
Keyword(s):  
Leading Edge ◽  
Wave Model ◽  
Pectoral Fin ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Propulsive Efficiency ◽  
Fish Locomotion ◽  
Pectoral Fins ◽  
Flow Features ◽  
Edge Vortex ◽  
Manta Ray

Recent advancement of bio-inspired underwater vehicles has led to a growing interest in understanding the fluid mechanics of fish locomotion, which involves complex interaction between the deforming structure and its surrounding fluid. Unlike most natural swimmers that undulate their body and caudal fin, manta rays employ an oscillatory mode by flapping their large, flattened pectoral fins to swim forward. Such a lift-based mode can achieve a substantially high propulsive efficiency, which is beneficial to long-distance swimming. In this study, numerical simulations are carried out on a realistic manta ray model to investigate the effect of pectoral fin kinematics on the propulsive performance and flow structure. A traveling wave model, which relates a local deflection angle to radial and azimuthal wavelengths, is applied to generate the motion of the pectoral fins. Hydrodynamic forces and propulsive efficiency are reported for systematically varying kinematic parameters such as wave amplitude and wavelengths. Key flow features, including a leading edge vortex (LEV) that forms close to the tip of each pectoral fin, and a wake consisting of interconnected vortex rings, are identified. In addition, how different fin motions alter the LEV behavior and hence affect the thrust and efficiency is illustrated.

scholarly journals Aerodynamic Performance of a Passive Pitching Model on Bionic Flapping Wing Micro Air Vehicles

2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinjing Hao ◽  
Jianghao Wu ◽  
Yanlai Zhang
Keyword(s):  
High Efficiency ◽  
Aerodynamic Force ◽  
Leading Edge ◽  
Micro Air Vehicles ◽  
Flapping Wing ◽  
Torsional Stiffness ◽  
Important Goal ◽  
Edge Vortex ◽  
Yaw Moment ◽  
Air Vehicles

Reducing weight and increasing lift have been an important goal of using flapping wing micro air vehicles (FWMAVs). However, FWMAVs with mechanisms to limit the angle of attack (α) artificially by active force cannot meet specific requirements. This study applies a bioinspired model that passively imitates insects’ pitching wings to resolve this problem. In this bionic passive pitching model, the wing root is equivalent to a torsional spring. α obtained by solving the coupled dynamic equation is similar to that of insects and exhibits a unique characteristic with two oscillated peaks during the middle of the upstroke/downstroke under the interaction of aerodynamic, torsional, and inertial moments. Excess rigidity or flexibility deteriorates the aerodynamic force and efficiency of the passive pitching wing. With appropriate torsional stiffness, passive pitching can maintain a high efficiency while enhancing the average lift by 10% than active pitching. This observation corresponds to a clear enhancement in instantaneous force and a more concentrated leading edge vortex. This phenomenon can be attributed to a vorticity moment whose component in the lift direction grows at a rapid speed. A novel bionic control strategy of this model is also proposed. Similar to the rest angle in insects, the rest angle of the model is adjusted to generate a yaw moment around the wing root without losing lift, which can assist to change the attitude and trajectory of a FWMAV during flight. These findings may guide us to deal with various conditions and requirements of FWMAV designs and applications.

Vortex force of an impulsively started plate at high angle of attack

2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (11) ◽  
pp. 2402-2414
Author(s):  
Xiang Fu ◽  
Gaohua Li ◽  
Fuxin Wang
Keyword(s):  
Aerodynamic Force ◽  
Angle Of Attack ◽  
Leading Edge ◽  
Aerodynamic Forces ◽  
Total Drag ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Vortical Structures ◽  
Edge Vortex ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose A quantitative study that can identify the primary aerodynamic forces and relate them to individual vortical structures is lacking. The paper aims to clarify the quantitative relationships between the aerodynamic forces and vortical structures. Design/methodology/approach The various contributions to the aerodynamic forces on the two-dimensional impulsively started plate are investigated from the perspective of the vorticity moment theorem. The angles of attacks are set to 45°, 58.5° and 72°, while the Reynolds number is 10,000 based on the chord length. Compared with the traditional pressure force analysis, this theorem not only tells us the total aerodynamic force during the motion, but also enables us to quantify the forces contributed from the fluid elements with non-zero vorticity. Findings It is found that the time-dependent force behaviors are dominated by the formations and evolutions of these vortical structures. The analysis of the time-averaged forces demonstrates that the lift contributed from the leading edge vortex (LEV) is nearly four times larger than the total lift and the drag contributed from the starting vortex (SV) is almost equal to the total drag when the angle of attack (AoA) increases to 72°, which means the LEV is “lift structure” whereas the SV is “drag structure”. Practical implications The present method provides a better perspective for flow control and drag reduction by relating the forces directly to the individual vorticity structures. Originality/value In this paper, the Vorticity Moment Theory is first used to study the quantitative relationships between the aerodynamic forces and the vortices.

scholarly journals Evolution of the leading-edge vortex over a flapping wing mechanism

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 6888-6894
Author(s):  
Muhamad Ridzuan Arifin ◽  
A.F.M. Yamin ◽  
A.S. Abdullah ◽  
M.F. Zakaryia ◽  
S. Shuib ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Aerodynamic Force ◽  
Leading Edge ◽  
Aerodynamic Performance ◽  
Flapping Wing ◽  
Unsteady State ◽  
Leading Edge Vortex ◽  
Edge Vortex ◽  
Advance Ratio ◽  
Lift Enhancement ◽  
Lift And Drag

Leading-edge vortex governs the aerodynamic force production of flapping wing flyers. The primary factor for lift enhancement is the leading-edge vortex (LEV) that allows for stall delay that is associated with unsteady fluid flow and thus generating extra lift during flapping flight. To access the effects of LEV to the aerodynamic performance of flapping wing, the three-dimensional numerical analysis of flow solver (FLUENT) are fully applied to simulate the flow pattern. The time-averaged aerodynamic performance (i.e., lift and drag) based on the effect of the advance ratio to the unsteadiness of the flapping wing will result in the flow regime of the flapping wing to be divided into two-state, unsteady state (J<1) and quasi-steady-state(J>1). To access the benefits of aerodynamic to the flapping wing, both set of parameters of velocities 2m/s to 8m/s at a high flapping frequency of 3 to 9 Hz corresponding to three angles of attacks of α = 0o to α = 30o. The result shows that as the advance ratio increases the generated lift and generated decreases until advance ratio, J =3 then the generated lift and drag does not change with increasing advance ratio. It is also found that the change of lift and drag with changing angle of attack changes with increasing advance ratio. At low advance ratio, the lift increase by 61% and the drag increase by 98% between α =100 and α =200. The lift increase by 28% and drag increase by 68% between α = 200 and α = 300. However, at high advance ratio, the lift increase by 59% and the drag increase by 80% between α =100 and α = 200, while between α =200 and α =300 the lift increase by 20% and drag increase by 64%. This suggest that the lift and drag slope decreases with increasing advance ratio. In this research, the results had shown that in the unsteady state flow, the LEV formation can be indicated during both strokes. The LEV is the main factor to the lift enhancement where it generated the lower suction of negative pressure. For unsteady state, the LEV was formed on the upper surface that increases the lift enhancement during downstroke while LEV was formed on the lower surface of the wing that generated the negative lift enhancement. The LEV seem to breakdown at the as the wing flap toward the ends on both strokes.      

scholarly journals A novel cylindrical overlap-and-fling mechanism used by sea butterflies

2020 ◽  
Vol 223 (15) ◽  
pp. jeb221499 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ferhat Karakas ◽  
Amy E. Maas ◽  
David W. Murphy
Keyword(s):  
High Speed ◽  
Leading Edge ◽  
Reynolds Numbers ◽  
Flexible Wings ◽  
Micro Particle Image Velocimetry ◽  
Flying Insects ◽  
Marine Snails ◽  
Image Velocimetry ◽  
Edge Vortex ◽  
Generation Mechanisms

ABSTRACTThe clap-and-fling mechanism is a well-studied, unsteady lift generation mechanism widely used by flying insects and is considered obligatory for tiny insects flying at low to intermediate Reynolds numbers, Re. However, some aquatic zooplankters including some pteropod (i.e. sea butterfly) and heteropod species swimming at low to intermediate Re also use the clap-and-fling mechanism. These marine snails have extremely flexible, actively deformed, muscular wings which they flap reciprocally to create propulsive force, and these wings may enable novel lift generation mechanisms not available to insects, which have less flexible, passively deformed wings. Using high-speed stereophotogrammetry and micro-particle image velocimetry, we describe a novel cylindrical overlap-and-fling mechanism used by the pteropod species Cuvierina atlantica. In this maneuver, the pteropod's wingtips overlap at the end of each half-stroke to sequentially form a downward-opening cone, a cylinder and an upward-opening cone. The transition from downward-opening cone to cylinder produces a downward-directed jet at the trailing edges. Similarly, the transition from cylinder to upward-opening cone produces downward flow into the gap between the wings, a leading edge vortex ring and a corresponding sharp increase in swimming speed. The ability of this pteropod species to perform the cylindrical overlap-and-fling maneuver twice during each stroke is enabled by its slender body and highly flexible wings. The cylindrical overlap-and-fling mechanism observed here may inspire the design of new soft robotic aquatic vehicles incorporating highly flexible propulsors to take advantage of this novel lift generation technique.

Aerodynamic characteristics of flapping wings under steady lateral inflow

2019 ◽  
Vol 870 ◽  
pp. 735-759 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jong-Seob Han ◽  
Anh Tuan Nguyen ◽  
Jae-Hung Han
Keyword(s):  
Aerodynamic Force ◽  
Leading Edge ◽  
Aerodynamic Characteristics ◽  
Lateral Direction ◽  
Roll Moment ◽  
Centre Of Gravity ◽  
Lateral Inflow ◽  
Force Moment ◽  
Edge Vortex ◽  
Wing Interaction

This experimental study investigates the effect of a uniform lateral inflow on the aerodynamic characteristics of flapping wings. Seven designated sideward ratios in the hovering condition and in the presence of a contralateral wing and a body were taken into account as variables in order to secure a better understanding of wing–wing and/or wing–body interactions under the lateral inflow. Our results from the single-wing cases clarified that an inflow running from the wingroot strengthened the leading-edge vortex, thereby augmenting the aerodynamic force/moment. The inflow running in the opposite direction drastically bent the leading-edge vortex to the trailing edge, but the cycle-averaged aerodynamic force/moment was barely changed. This led to substantial imbalances in the force/moment on the two wings. The roll moment on a centre of gravity and the static margin suggested flight instability in the lateral direction, similar to previous studies. We found that the wing–wing interaction was not completely negligible overall under a lateral inflow. A massive downwash induced by the wing on the windward side nearly neutralized the aerodynamic force/moment augmentations on the other wing with lower effective angles of attack. The wing–wing interaction also gave rise to a low-lift high-drag situation during the pitching-up wing rotation, resulting in greater side force derivatives than the theory of flapping counterforce. Further calculations of the roll moment and the static margin with the centre of gravity showed that the wing–wing interaction can improve static stability in the lateral direction. This mainly stemmed from both the attenuation of the lift augmentation and the elimination of the positive roll moment of the flapping-wing system.

scholarly journals A contralateral wing stabilizes a hovering hawkmoth under a lateral gust

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jong-Seob Han ◽  
Jae-Hung Han
Keyword(s):  
Aerodynamic Force ◽  
Leading Edge ◽  
Static Stability ◽  
The Body ◽  
Leeward Side ◽  
Water Tank ◽  
Roll Moment ◽  
Close Proximity ◽  
Edge Vortex ◽  
Hinge Points

AbstractPrevious analysis on the lateral stability of hovering insects, which reported a destabilizing roll moment due to a lateral gust, has relied on the results of a single wing without considering a presence of the contralateral wing (wing-wing interaction). Here, we investigated the presence of the contralateral wing on the aerodynamic and flight dynamic characteristics of a hovering hawkmoth under a lateral gust. By employing a dynamically scaled-up mechanical model and a servo-driven towing system installed in a water tank, we found that the presence of the contralateral wing plays a significant role in the lateral static stability. The contralateral wing mitigated an excessive aerodynamic force on the wing at the leeward side, thereby providing a negative roll moment to the body. Digital particle image velocimetry revealed an attenuated vortical system of the leading-edge vortex. An excessive effective angle of attack in the single wing case, which was caused by the root vortex of previous half stroke, was reduced by a downwash of the contralateral wing. The contralateral wing also relocated a neutral point in close proximity to the wing hinge points above the actual center of gravity, providing a practical static margin to a hovering hawkmoth.

Flight

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anders Hedenström
Keyword(s):  
Bird Species ◽  
Leading Edge ◽  
Micro Air Vehicles ◽  
Leading Edge Vortex ◽  
Confined Spaces ◽  
Unsteady Aerodynamic ◽  
Maneuvering Flight ◽  
Edge Vortex ◽  
Lifting Surfaces ◽  
Animal Flight

Animal flight represents a great challenge and model for biomimetic design efforts. Powered flight at low speeds requires not only appropriate lifting surfaces (wings) and actuator (engine), but also an advanced sensory control system to allow maneuvering in confined spaces, and take-off and landing. Millions of years of evolutionary tinkering has resulted in modern birds and bats, which are achieve controlled maneuvering flight as well as hovering and cruising flight with trans-continental non-stop migratory flights enduring several days in some bird species. Unsteady aerodynamic mechanisms allows for hovering and slow flight in insects, birds and bats, such as for example the delayed stall with a leading edge vortex used to enhance lift at slows speeds. By studying animal flight with the aim of mimicking key adaptations allowing flight as found in animals, engineers will be able to design micro air vehicles of similar capacities.

Flow criticality governs leading-edge-vortex initiation on finite wings in unsteady flow

2021 ◽  
Vol 910 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoshikazu Hirato ◽  
Minao Shen ◽  
Ashok Gopalarathnam ◽  
Jack R. Edwards
Keyword(s):  
Unsteady Flow ◽  
Leading Edge ◽  
Leading Edge Vortex ◽  
Edge Vortex

Abstract

scholarly journals Leading Edge Blowing to Mimic and Enhance the Serration Effects for Aerofoil

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 2593
Author(s):  
Yasir Al-Okbi ◽  
Tze Pei Chong ◽  
Oksana Stalnov
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Angle Of Attack ◽  
Leading Edge ◽  
Boundary Layer Separation ◽  
Shear Instability ◽  
Vortical Flow ◽  
High Angle ◽  
High Angle Of Attack ◽  
Layer Separation ◽  
Aerodynamic Performances

Leading edge serration is now a well-established and effective passive control device for the reduction of turbulence–leading edge interaction noise, and for the suppression of boundary layer separation at high angle of attack. It is envisaged that leading edge blowing could produce the same mechanisms as those produced by a serrated leading edge to enhance the aeroacoustics and aerodynamic performances of aerofoil. Aeroacoustically, injection of mass airflow from the leading edge (against the incoming turbulent flow) can be an effective mechanism to decrease the turbulence intensity, and/or alter the stagnation point. According to classical theory on the aerofoil leading edge noise, there is a potential for the leading edge blowing to reduce the level of turbulence–leading edge interaction noise radiation. Aerodynamically, after the mixing between the injected air and the incoming flow, a shear instability is likely to be triggered owing to the different flow directions. The resulting vortical flow will then propagate along the main flow direction across the aerofoil surface. These vortical flows generated indirectly owing to the leading edge blowing could also be effective to mitigate boundary layer separation at high angle of attack. The objectives of this paper are to validate these hypotheses, and combine the serration and blowing together on the leading edge to harvest further improvement on the aeroacoustics and aerodynamic performances. Results presented in this paper strongly indicate that leading edge blowing, which is an active flow control method, can indeed mimic and even enhance the bio-inspired leading edge serration effectively.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document