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A review on studies of the aerodynamics of different types of maneuvers in dragonflies

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Abstract

In the recent decades, biomimetic robots have attracted scientific communities’ attention increasingly, as people try to learn from nature in which exist astonishing and uniquely evolved mechanisms shown by very species. Dragonfly, as such one example, demonstrates unique and superior flight performance than most of the other insect species and birds. Researchers are obsessed with the aerodynamic characteristics of an in-flight dragonfly as two pairs of independently controlled wings provide them with an unmatchable flying performance and robustness. In this paper, an extensive review of recent studies related to the flight aerodynamics of dragonflies has been conducted. The main research findings about effect of the motion parameters and body attitude on the resulting aerodynamic forces and power requirements in different flight modes of a dragonfly are summarized. Particular attention is given to functional characteristics of dragonfly wings and the importance of mutual interaction between forewing and hindwing for its flyability. This article aims to bring together current understandings of dragonfly aerodynamics and thus has certain reference value to design and control of dragonfly-inspired biomimetic devices.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China Grant (Nos. 50836006, 11202123 and 51376096).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai, 200093, People’s Republic of China

    Xiaojing Sun, Xinyu Gong & Diangui Huang

  2. Shanghai Key Laboratory of power energy in multiphase flow and heat transfer, Shanghai, 200093, People’s Republic of China

    Xiaojing Sun, Xinyu Gong & Diangui Huang

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Sun, X., Gong, X. & Huang, D. A review on studies of the aerodynamics of different types of maneuvers in dragonflies. Arch Appl Mech 87, 521–554 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00419-016-1208-7

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