Flow Characteristics of a Three-Dimensional Fixed Micro Air Vehicle Wing

Author(s):  
Parvez Khambatta ◽  
Lawrence Ukeiley ◽  
Charles Tinney ◽  
Bret Stanford ◽  
Peter Ifju
Author(s):  
Matt McDonald ◽  
Sunil K. Agrawal

Design of flapping-wing micro air-vehicles presents many engineering challenges. As observed by biologists, insects and birds exhibit complex three-dimensional wing motions. It is believed that these unique patterns of wing motion create favorable aerodynamic forces that enable these species to fly forward, hover, and execute complex motions. From the perspective of micro air-vehicle applications, extremely lightweight designs that accomplish these motions of the wing, using just a single, or a few actuators, are preferable. This paper presents a method to design a spherical four-bar flapping mechanism that approximates a given spatial flapping motion of a wing, considered to have favorable aerodynamics. A spherical flapping mechanism was then constructed and its aerodynamic performance was compared to the original spatially moving wing using an instrumented robotic flapper with force sensors.


2000 ◽  
Author(s):  
Konstantinos Henninghausen ◽  
Graham Candler ◽  
Gunnar Einarsson ◽  
Iain Boyd

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tianhang Xiao ◽  
Zhengzhou Li ◽  
Shuanghou Deng ◽  
Haisong Ang ◽  
Xinchun Zhou

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (12) ◽  
pp. 160746 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hoang Vu Phan ◽  
Thi Kim Loan Au ◽  
Hoon Cheol Park

This study used numerical and experimental approaches to investigate the role played by the clap-and-fling mechanism in enhancing force generation in hovering insect-like two-winged flapping-wing micro air vehicle (FW-MAV). The flapping mechanism was designed to symmetrically flap wings at a high flapping amplitude of approximately 192°. The clap-and-fling mechanisms were thereby implemented at both dorsal and ventral stroke reversals. A computational fluid dynamic (CFD) model was constructed based on three-dimensional wing kinematics to estimate the force generation, which was validated by the measured forces using a 6-axis load cell. The computed forces proved that the CFD model provided reasonable estimation with differences less than 8%, when compared with the measured forces. The measurement indicated that the clap and flings at both the stroke reversals augmented the average vertical force by 16.2% when compared with the force without the clap-and-fling effect. In the CFD simulation, the clap and flings enhanced the vertical force by 11.5% and horizontal drag force by 18.4%. The observations indicated that both the fling and the clap contributed to the augmented vertical force by 62.6% and 37.4%, respectively, and to the augmented horizontal drag force by 71.7% and 28.3%, respectively. The flow structures suggested that a strong downwash was expelled from the opening gap between the trailing edges during the fling as well as the clap at each stroke reversal. In addition to the fling phases, the influx of air into the low-pressure region between the wings from the leading edges also significantly contributed to augmentation of the vertical force. The study conducted for high Reynolds numbers also confirmed that the effect of the clap and fling was insignificant when the minimum distance between the two wings exceeded 1.2c (c = wing chord). Thus, the clap and flings were successfully implemented in the FW-MAV, and there was a significant improvement in the vertical force.


2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 181-193 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisong Shi ◽  
Chunkit Uy ◽  
Shih K Huang ◽  
Zifeng Yang ◽  
George PG Huang ◽  
...  

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hoang Vu Phan ◽  
Quang-Tri Truong ◽  
Hoon-Cheol Park

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the uncontrolled vertical takeoff of an insect-mimicking flapping-wing micro air vehicle (FW-MAV) of 12.5 cm wing span with a body weight of 7.36 g after installing batteries and power control. Design/methodology/approach – The forces were measured using a load cell and estimated by the unsteady blade element theory (UBET), which is based on full three-dimensional wing kinematics. In addition, the mean aerodynamic force center (AC) was determined based on the UBET calculations using the measured wing kinematics. Findings – The wing flapping frequency can reach to 43 Hz at the flapping angle of 150°. By flapping wings at a frequency of 34 Hz, the FW-MAV can produce enough thrust to over its own weight. For this condition, the difference between the estimated and average measured vertical forces was about 7.3 percent with respect to the estimated force. All parts for the FW-MAV were integrated such that the distance between the mean AC and the center of gravity is close to zero. In this manner, pitching moment generation was prevented to facilitate stable vertical takeoff. An uncontrolled takeoff test successfully demonstrated that the FW-MAV possesses initial pitching stability for takeoff. Originality/value – This work has successfully demonstrated an insect-mimicking flapping-wing MAV that can stably takeoff with initial stability.


2010 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Matt McDonald ◽  
Sunil K. Agrawal

The design of flapping-wing micro air-vehicles presents many engineering challenges. As observed by biologists, insects and birds exhibit complex three-dimensional wing motions. It is believed that these unique patterns of wing motion create favorable aerodynamic forces that enable these species to fly forward, hover, and execute complex motions. From the perspective of micro air-vehicle applications, extremely light-weight designs that accomplish these motions of the wing, using just a single or a few actuators, are preferable. This paper presents a method to design a spherical four-bar flapping mechanism that approximates a given spatial flapping motion of a wing, considered to have favorable aerodynamics. A spherical flapping mechanism was then constructed and its aerodynamic performance was compared to the original spatially moving wing using an instrumented robotic flapper with force sensors.


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