scholarly journals Wing and body motion and aerodynamic and leg forces during take-off in droneflies

2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (89) ◽  
pp. 20130808 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mao Wei Chen ◽  
Yan Lai Zhang ◽  
Mao Sun

Here, we present a detailed analysis of the take-off mechanics in droneflies performing voluntary take-offs. Wing and body kinematics of the insects during take-off were measured using high-speed video techniques. Based on the measured data, the inertia force acting on the insect was computed and the aerodynamic force of the wings was calculated by the method of computational fluid dynamics. Subtracting the aerodynamic force and the weight from the inertia force gave the leg force. In take-off, a dronefly increases its stroke amplitude gradually in the first 10–14 wingbeats and becomes airborne at about the 12th wingbeat. The aerodynamic force increases monotonously from zero to a value a little larger than its weight, and the leg force decreases monotonously from a value equal to its weight to zero, showing that the droneflies do not jump and only use aerodynamic force of flapping wings to lift themselves into the air. Compared with take-offs in insects in previous studies, in which a very large force (5–10 times of the weight) generated either by jumping legs (locusts, milkweed bugs and fruit flies) or by the ‘fling’ mechanism of the wing pair (butterflies) is used in a short time, the take-off in the droneflies is relatively slow but smoother.

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (92) ◽  
pp. 20130992 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leif Ristroph ◽  
Stephen Childress

Ornithopters, or flapping-wing aircraft, offer an alternative to helicopters in achieving manoeuvrability at small scales, although stabilizing such aerial vehicles remains a key challenge. Here, we present a hovering machine that achieves self-righting flight using flapping wings alone, without relying on additional aerodynamic surfaces and without feedback control. We design, construct and test-fly a prototype that opens and closes four wings, resembling the motions of swimming jellyfish more so than any insect or bird. Measurements of lift show the benefits of wing flexing and the importance of selecting a wing size appropriate to the motor. Furthermore, we use high-speed video and motion tracking to show that the body orientation is stable during ascending, forward and hovering flight modes. Our experimental measurements are used to inform an aerodynamic model of stability that reveals the importance of centre-of-mass location and the coupling of body translation and rotation. These results show the promise of flapping-flight strategies beyond those that directly mimic the wing motions of flying animals.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Wenqing Yang ◽  
Jianlin Xuan ◽  
Bifeng Song

A flexible flapping wing with a rectangular planform was designed to investigate the influence of flexible deformation. This planform is more convenient and easier to define and analyzed its deforming properties in the direction of spanwise and chordwise. The flapping wings were created from carbon fiber skeleton and polyester membrane with similar size to medium birds. Their flexibility of deformations was tested using a pair of high-speed cameras, and the 3D deformations were reconstructed using the digital image correlation technology. To obtain the relationship between the flexible deformation and aerodynamic forces, a force/torque sensor with 6 components was used to test the corresponding aerodynamic forces. Experimental results indicated that the flexible deformations demonstrate apparent cyclic features, in accordance with the flapping cyclic movements. The deformations in spanwise and chordwise are coupled together; a change of chordwise rib stiffness can cause more change in spanwise deformation. A certain lag in phase was observed between the deformation and the flapping movements. This was because the deformation was caused by both the aerodynamic force and the inertial force. The stiffness had a significant effect on the deformation, which in turn, affected the aerodynamic and power characteristics. In the scope of this study, the wing with medium stiffness consumed the least power. The purpose of this research is to explore some fundamental characteristics, as well as the experimental setup is described in detail, which is helpful to understand the basic aerodynamic characteristics of flapping wings. The results of this study can provide an inspiration to further understand and design flapping-wing micro air vehicles with better performance.


2014 ◽  
Vol 501-504 ◽  
pp. 1157-1161
Author(s):  
Chao Qun Xiang ◽  
Wen Hua Guo ◽  
Jia Wen Zhang

The train-bridge aerodynamic spatial model was established, and the aerodynamic coefficients of train on bridge were calculated accordingly. The method for acquiring train critical speed under crosswind was derived by the statics, the displacement bring from springs, aerodynamic force, lateral and vertical vibrational inertia force, centrifugal force and gravitational force were considered in the derivation. The results show that the head trains aerodynamic coefficient will reach peak value around wind incidence angle, the rear trains aerodynamic coefficient varies constantly with incidence angle. Side force and lift force coefficients will get maximums when train attack angle , overturning moment coefficient absolute get maximum at . For trains overturning stability, crosswind from the inner of curve blows to the head train running on the windward line of bridge is the most dangerous situation.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Niranjan Sahoo ◽  
P. Ramesh Babu

Force measurement is one of the key issues for design of high speed vehicle configurations. They are routinely tested in impulse facilities where the test duration is in the order of few milliseconds. Since, the experiments are performed in short test times, it is expected that the model never achieves the steady state. So, the measurement diagnostics must account this fact while inferring the forces from the measured parameters. One of the methods is the determination of characteristics system response function by including the dynamics of the system. The aim of this work is to develop a calibration experimental setup and measure axial force on generic aerodynamic body configurations during a short time (~0.6 ms). A generic aerodynamic model attached to a “stress bar” is suspended freely and an impulse load is applied at the tip of the model. An accelerometer fitted with the model records the signal corresponding to the motion of the model. Then, the system characteristics function (impulse response function) is obtained from input force history and output accelerometer signal and further used to predict any unknown forces of similar nature. The recovered forces are compared well with the applied ones with a reasonable accuracy of ±5%.


2019 ◽  
Vol 85 (6) ◽  
pp. 53-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. E. Vasil’ev ◽  
Yu. G. Matvienko ◽  
A. V. Pankov ◽  
A. G. Kalinin

The results of using early damage diagnostics technique (developed in the Mechanical Engineering Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IMASH RAN) for detecting the latent damage of an aviation panel made of composite material upon bench tensile tests are presented. We have assessed the capabilities of the developed technique and software regarding damage detection at the early stage of panel loading in conditions of elastic strain of the material using brittle strain-sensitive coating and simultaneous crack detection in the coating with a high-speed video camera “Video-print” and acoustic emission system “A-Line 32D.” When revealing a subsurface defect (a notch of the middle stringer) of the aviation panel, the general concept of damage detection at the early stage of loading in conditions of elastic behavior of the material was also tested in the course of the experiment, as well as the software specially developed for cluster analysis and classification of detected location pulses along with the equipment and software for simultaneous recording of video data flows and arrays of acoustic emission (AE) data. Synchronous recording of video images and AE pulses ensured precise control of the cracking process in the brittle strain-sensitive coating (tensocoating)at all stages of the experiment, whereas the use of structural-phenomenological approach kept track of the main trends in damage accumulation at different structural levels and identify the sources of their origin when classifying recorded AE data arrays. The combined use of oxide tensocoatings and high-speed video recording synchronized with the AE control system, provide the possibility of definite determination of the subsurface defect, reveal the maximum principal strains in the area of crack formation, quantify them and identify the main sources of AE signals upon monitoring the state of the aviation panel under loading P = 90 kN, which is about 12% of the critical load.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 4232
Author(s):  
Krishan Harkhoe ◽  
Guy Verschaffelt ◽  
Guy Van der Sande

Delay-based reservoir computing (RC), a neuromorphic computing technique, has gathered lots of interest, as it promises compact and high-speed RC implementations. To further boost the computing speeds, we introduce and study an RC setup based on spin-VCSELs, thereby exploiting the high polarization modulation speed inherent to these lasers. Based on numerical simulations, we benchmarked this setup against state-of-the-art delay-based RC systems and its parameter space was analyzed for optimal performance. The high modulation speed enabled us to have more virtual nodes in a shorter time interval. However, we found that at these short time scales, the delay time and feedback rate heavily influence the nonlinear dynamics. Therefore, and contrary to other laser-based RC systems, the delay time has to be optimized in order to obtain good RC performances. We achieved state-of-the-art performances on a benchmark timeseries prediction task. This spin-VCSEL-based RC system shows a ten-fold improvement in processing speed, which can further be enhanced in a straightforward way by increasing the birefringence of the VCSEL chip.


Author(s):  
Hirokazu Takahashi ◽  
Takahiro Murooka ◽  
Kan Toyoshima ◽  
Hitoshi Uematsu ◽  
Tetsuro Fujii

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