Abstract
Deformation during the flapping cycle can be used as a determinant of hover-mode performance. The wing used here is a small hummingbird sized wing constructed from carbon fiber and machined acetal plastic. Digital image correlation measurements while the wing was flapped at 25 Hz is compared with aerodynamic thrust performance to reveal characteristics that might translate to favorable or poor wing performance. This is aimed to provide flapping micro air vehicle designers with knowledge of how to tailor their wings for desired aerodynamic performance. Three different wing designs were tested; all of which were the same planform area and tested using a single active degree of freedom flapping mechanism. Tip deflection and twist angle at 50 % and 75 % are extracted from the full-field deformation and used as metrics. The twist measurements showed advanced rotation in all the wings tested, though to different extents. The wing which had the most advanced rotation was also found to have produced the most thrust at 25 Hz, while the wing with the least tip deflection and was most efficient. This suggests that the larger tip deflection seen with the other wings may be detrimental to the efficiency of the wing.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
C.P. Ellington, The aerodynamics of hovering insect flight. IV. Aeorodynamic mechanisms. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. B Biol. Sci. 305(1122), 79–113 (1984)
C.P. Ellington, C. van den Berg, A.P. Willmott, A.L.R. Thomas, Leading-edge vorticies in insect flight. Lett. Nat. 384(19), 626–630 (1996)
A.R. Ennos, The importance of torsion in the design of insect wings. J. Exp. Biol. 140, 137–160 (1988)
C.P. Ellington, The novel aerodynamics of insect flight: applications to micro-air vehicles. J. Exp. Biol. 202(Pt 23), 3439–3448 (1999)
S.A. Ansari, R. Żbikowski, K. Knowles, Non-linear unsteady aerodynamic model for insect-like flapping wings in the hover. Part 1: methodology and analysis. Proc. Inst. Mech. Eng. G. J. Aerosp. Eng. 220(2), 61–83 (2006)
B. Stanford, M. Kurdi, P. Beran, A. McClung, Shape, structure, and kinematic parameterization of a power-optimal hovering wing. J. Aircr. 49(6), 1687–1699 (2012)
D. Ishihara, T. Horie, M. Denda, A two-dimensional computational study on the fluid-structure interaction cause of wing pitch changes in dipteran flapping flight. J. Exp. Biol. 212(Pt 1), 1–10 (2009)
A. Gogulapati, P.P. Friedmann, E. Kheng, W. Shyy, Approximate aeroelastic modeling of flapping wings in hover. AIAA J. 51(3), 567–583 (2013)
A. Chaudhuri, R.T. Haftka, P. Ifju, K. Chang, C. Tyler, T. Schmitz, Experimental flapping wing optimization and uncertainty quantification using limited samples. Struct. Multidiscip. Optim. 51(4), 957–970 (2014)
A. Chaudhuri, R. Haftka, K. Chang, J. Van Hall, P. Ifju, Thrust-power pareto fronts based on experiments of a small flapping wing, in 10th AIAA Multidisciplinary Design Optimization Conference, 2014, pp. 1–9
A. Chaudhuri, K. Chang, R. Haftka, P. Ifju, “Multi-objective experimental optimization with multiple simultaneous sampling for flapping wings,” in 56th AIAA/ASCE/AHS/ASC Structures, Structural Dynamics, and Materials Conference, 2014, pp. 1–17
K. Chang, A. Chaudhuri, J. Tang, J. Van Hall, P. Ifju, R. Haftka, C. Tyler, T. Schmitz, Stiffness Investigation of Synthetic Flapping Wings for Hovering Flight, in Advancement of Optical Methods in Experimental Mechanics, ed. by H. Jin, C. Sciammarella, S. Yoshida, L. Lamberti (Springer International Publishing, Cham, 2015), pp. 249–256
P. Wu, P. Ifju, B. Stanford, Flapping wing structural deformation and thrust correlation study with flexible membrane wings. AIAA J. 48(9), 2111–2122 (2010)
W. Shyy, H. Aono, S.K. Chimakurthi, P. Trizila, C.-K. Kang, C.E.S. Cesnik, H. Liu, Recent progress in flapping wing aerodynamics and aeroelasticity. Prog. Aerosp. Sci. 46(7), 284–327 (2010)
M.H. Dickinson, F.O. Lehmann, S.P. Sane, Wing rotation and the aerodynamic basis of insect flight. Science 284(1999), 1954–1960 (1999)
A.M. Mountcastle, T.L. Daniel, Aerodynamic and functional consequences of wing compliance. Exp. Fluids 46(5), 873–882 (2009)
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) grant FA9550-11-1-0066 from Dr. David Stargel, Grant Monitor.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 The Society for Experimental Mechanics, Inc.
About this paper
Cite this paper
Chang, K., Nazare, A., Ifju, P. (2016). Flapping Wing Deformation Measurement in Hover Flight Conditions. In: Jin, H., Yoshida, S., Lamberti, L., Lin, MT. (eds) Advancement of Optical Methods in Experimental Mechanics, Volume 3. Conference Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Mechanics Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-22446-6_18
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-22446-6_18
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-22445-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-22446-6
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)