Numerical Investigation on the Propulsive Performance of Biplane Counter-flapping Wings

A numerical investigation is performed to address the flexing effect on the propulsion performance of flapping wing particularly on the counter-flapping wings of the biplane configuration. A Reynolds number of 10,000 is considered in the present study which corresponds to the flight regime of most existing flapping wing micro air vehicles. The...

Effect of chordwise deformation on unsteady aerodynamic mechanisms in hovering flapping flight

A three-dimensional simulation of hovering flapping wings was performed using an immersed boundary method. This was done to investigate the effects of chordwise wing deformation on three important unsteady aerodynamic mechanisms found in flapping flight, namely Leading Edge Vortex (LEV) shedding, wake capture and clap and fling. A wing was...

Effect of chordwise deformation on unsteady aerodynamic mechanisms in hovering flapping flight

A three-dimensional simulation of hovering flapping wings was performed using an immersed noundary method. This was done to investigate the effects of chordwise wing deformation on three important unsteady aerodynamic mechanisms found in flapping flight, namely Leading Edge Vortex (LEV) shedding, wake capture and clap and fling. A wing was...

Experimental Investigation of the Flapping Performance on 'Delfly Micro'

Numerical simulation of 'X-wing' type biplane flapping wings in 3D using the Immersed Boundary Method (IBM)

The numerical simulation of a “X-wing” type biplane flapping wings, has been performed in 3D using the Immersed Boundary Method (IBM). This “X-wing” type flapping configuration draws its inspiration from Delfly [1], a family of ornithopters developed by the Delft University of Technology, as shown in Figure 1. The unique “X-wing” design features...

Analysis of biplane flapping flight with tail

Numerical simulations have been performed to examine the interference effects between an upstream flapping biplane airfoil arrangement and a downstream stationary tail at a Reynolds number of 1000, which is around the regime of small flapping micro aerial vehicles. The objective is to investigate the effect of the relative distance and angle of...

Analysis of tail effects in flapping flight

Numerical simulations have been performed to examine the interference effects between an upstream flapping airfoil and a downstream stationary airfoil in a tandem configuration at a Reynolds number of 1000, which is around the regime of small flapping micro aerial vehicles. The objective is to investigate the effect of the distance of the tail...

Analysis of tail effects in flapping flight

Numerical simulations have been performed to examine the interference effects between an upstream flapping airfoil and a downstream stationary airfoil in a tandem configuration at a Reynolds number of 1000, which is around the regime of small flapping micro aerial vehicles. The objective is to investigate the effect of the distance of the tail...

Aerodynamic Experiments on DelFly II: Unsteady Lift Enhancement

Particle image velocimetry measurements and simultaneous force measurements have been performed on the DelFly II flapping-wing MAV, to investigate the flow-field behavior and the aerodynamic forces generated. For flapping wing motion it is expected that both the clap and peel mechanism and the occurrence of a leading edge vortex during the...

Influence of wing kinematics on aerodynamic performance in hovering insect flight

The influence of different wing kinematic models on the aerodynamic performance of a hovering insect is investigated by means of two-dimensional time-dependent Navier–Stokes simulations. For this, simplified models are compared with averaged representations of the hovering fruit fly wing kinematics. With increasing complexity, a harmonic model,...