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Experimental and computational studies of the aerodynamic performance of a flapping and passively rotating insect wing

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 February 2016

Yufeng Chen ,
Nick Gravish ,
Alexis Lussier Desbiens ,
Ronit Malka  and
Robert J. Wood
Yufeng Chen*
Affiliation:
School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
Nick Gravish
Affiliation:
School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
Alexis Lussier Desbiens
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, J1K 2R1, Canada
Ronit Malka
Affiliation:
School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
Robert J. Wood
Affiliation:
School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
*
†Email address for correspondence: yufengchen@seas.harvard.edu
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Abstract

Flapping wings are important in many biological and bioinspired systems. Here, we investigate the fluid mechanics of flapping wings that possess a single flexible hinge allowing passive wing pitch rotation under load. We perform experiments on an insect-scale (${\approx}1$  cm wing span) robotic flapper and compare the results with a quasi-steady dynamical model and a coupled fluid–structure computational fluid dynamics model. In experiments we measure the time varying kinematics, lift force and two-dimensional velocity fields of the induced flow from particle image velocimetry. We find that increasing hinge stiffness leads to advanced wing pitching, which is beneficial towards lift force production. The classical quasi-steady model gives an accurate prediction of passive wing pitching if the relative phase difference between the wing stroke and the pitch kinematics, ${\it\delta}$, is small. However, the quasi-steady model cannot account for the effect of ${\it\delta}$ on leading edge vortex (LEV) growth and lift generation. We further explore the relationships between LEV, lift force, drag force and wing kinematics through experiments and numerical simulations. We show that the wing kinematics and flapping efficiency depend on the stiffness of a passive compliant hinge. Our dual approach of running at-scale experiments and numerical simulations gives useful guidelines for choosing wing hinge stiffnesses that lead to efficient flapping.

JFM classification

Aerodynamics: Aerodynamics Vortex Flows: Vortex shedding
Type
Papers
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 791 , 25 March 2016 , pp. 1 - 33
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Copyright
© 2016 Cambridge University Press 

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Chen et al. supplementary movie

This movie shows a millimetre scale wing (wing span: 12.8mm, mean wing chord: 3mm) flapped at 120Hz. The first part illustrates the experimental setup and flapping kinematics. The movie also shows the particle velocimetry measurement of vorticity field and a numerical simulation using identical input kinematics.

Download Chen et al. supplementary movie(Video)
Video 23.7 MB
Supplementary material: PDF

Chen et al. supplementary material

Supplementary data

Download Chen et al. supplementary material(PDF)
PDF 166.9 KB

Chen et al. supplementary movie

This movie compares flapping experiments in air and in vacuum, at 120Hz. We show the passive pitching amplitude is much smaller in vacuum than it is in air. In addition, the pitching frequency is higher than driving frequency in vacuum.

Download Chen et al. supplementary movie(Video)
Video 7.3 MB