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Flying Insects and Robots pp 143–157Cite as

Flexible Wings and Fluid-Structure Interactions for Micro-Air Vehicles

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Abstract

Aerodynamics, structural dynamics, and flight dynamics of natural flyers intersect with some of the richest problems in micro-air vehicles (MAVs), including massively unsteady three-dimensional separation, transition in boundary and shear layers, vortical flows, unsteady flight environment, aeroelasticity, and adaptive control being just a few examples. A challenge is that the scaling of both fluid dynamics and structural dynamics between smaller natural flyer and practical flying hardware/lab experiment (larger dimension) is fundamentally difficult. The interplay between flexible structures and aerodynamics motivated by the MAV development is discussed in this chapter. For fixed wings, membrane materials exhibit self-initiated vibration even in a steady free stream which lowers the effective angle of attack of the membrane structure compared to that of the rigid wing. For flapping wings, structural flexibility can enhance leading-edge suction via increasing the effective angle of attack, resulting in higher thrust generation.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research’s Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) grant and by the Michigan/AFRL (Air Force Research Laboratory)/Boeing Collaborative Center in Aeronautical Sciences.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Aerospace Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA

    W. Shyy, Y. Lian, S.K. Chimakurthi, J. Tang & C.E.S. Cesnik

  2. Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Florida, Gainsville, FL, USA

    B. Stanford & P.G. Ifju

Authors
  1. W. Shyy
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  2. Y. Lian
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  3. S.K. Chimakurthi
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  4. J. Tang
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  5. C.E.S. Cesnik
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  6. B. Stanford
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  7. P.G. Ifju
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to W. Shyy .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Intelligent Systems, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, 1015, Switzerland

    Dario Floreano

  2. Laboratory of Intelligent Systems, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, 1015, Switzerland

    Jean-Christophe Zufferey

  3. Queensland Brain Institute, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, 4072, Australia

    Mandyam V. Srinivasan

  4. Dept. Zoology, University Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EJ, United Kingdom

    Charlie Ellington

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Shyy, W. et al. (2009). Flexible Wings and Fluid-Structure Interactions for Micro-Air Vehicles. In: Floreano, D., Zufferey, JC., Srinivasan, M., Ellington, C. (eds) Flying Insects and Robots. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-89393-6_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-89393-6_11

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-89392-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-89393-6

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