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Swimming and Flying in Nature pp 803–813Cite as

On the Mechanics of Flight of Small Insects

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Abstract

A mechanism is proposed for the generation of lift and propulsive forces by small insects with deeply fringed wings. The fringes, composed of bristles (setae) projecting from the margins of the wings, form sheets in which waves generated by the beating of the wings will propagate in spanwise and chordwise directions. Extrapolation of measurements of pressure drops in flow through inclined gauze sheets to the very low Reynolds numbers of insect flight indicate that the wave motion can generate lift forces many times those achievable by airfoils at the same Reynolds numbers.

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA

    Arnold M. Kuethe

Authors
  1. Arnold M. Kuethe
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. California Institute of Technology, USA

    Theodore Y.-T. Wu (Chairman), Charles J. Brokaw  & Christopher Brennen (Secretary) (Chairman),  &  (Secretary)

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© 1975 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Kuethe, A.M. (1975). On the Mechanics of Flight of Small Insects. In: Wu, T.YT., Brokaw, C.J., Brennen, C. (eds) Swimming and Flying in Nature. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-1326-8_22

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-1326-8_22

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4757-1328-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4757-1326-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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