Deformation Analysis of a Hummingbird Inspired MAV Flapping Wing using Digital Image Correlation

Flapping wing micro air vehicles (MAVs) have the advantage of being able to fly at slow speeds and have high maneuverability. The design of a flapping wing MAV inspired by birds presents many technical challenges because birds as natural fliers exhibit higher efficiency than any man made flapping wing structure. Thus, the structure and motion of...

Post-buckled precompressed (PBP) subsonic micro flight control actuators and surfaces

This paper describes a new class of flight control actuators using Post-Buckled Precompressed (PBP) piezoelectric elements to provide much improved actuator performance. These PBP actuator elements are modeled using basic large deflection Euler-beam estimations accounting for laminated plate effects. The deflection estimations are then coupled...

Post-buckled precompressed (PBP) elements: A new class of flight control actuators enhancing high-speed autonomous VTOL MAVs

This paper describes a new class of flight control actuators using Post-Buckled Precompressed (PBP) piezoelectric elements. These actuators are designed to produce significantly higher deflection and force levels than conventional piezoelectric actuator elements. Classical laminate plate theory (CLPT) models are shown to work very well in...