Influence of wing flexibility on the aerodynamic performance of a tethered flapping bumblebee

The sophisticated structures of flapping insect wings make it challenging to study the role of wing flexibility in insect flight. In this study, a mass-spring system is used to model wing structural dynamics as a thin, flexible membrane supported by a network of veins. The vein mechanical properties can be estimated based on their diameters and the Young's modulus of cuticle. In order to analyze the effect of wing flexibility, the Young's modulus is varied to make a comparison between two different wing models that we refer to as flexible and highly flexible. The wing models are coupled with a pseudo-spectral code solving the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations, allowing us to investigate the influence of wing deformation on the aerodynamic efficiency of a tethered flapping bumblebee. Compared to the bumblebee model with rigid wings, the one with flexible wings flies more efficiently, characterized by a larger lift-to-power ratio.     

Effects of unsteady deformation of flapping wing on its aerodynamic forces

Effects of unsteady deformation of a flapping model insect wing on its aerodynamic force production are studied by solving the Navier-Stokes equations on a dynamically deforming grid.Aerodynamic forces on the flapping wing are not much affected by considerable twist,but affected by camber deformation.The effect of combined camber and twist deformation is similar to that of camber deformation.With a deformation of 6% camber and 20°twist(typical values observed for wings of many insects),lift is increased bv 10%～20%and lift-to-drag ratio by around 10%compared with the case of a rigid flat-plate wing.As a result.the deformation can increase the maximum lift coefficient of an insect.and reduce its power requirement for flight.For example,for a hovering bumblebee with dynamically deforming wings(6?mber and 20°twist),aerodynamic power required is reduced by about 16%compared with the case of rigid wings.     

Aerodynamic and functional consequences of wing compliance

A growing body of evidence indicates that a majority of insects experience some degree of wing deformation during flight. With no musculature distal to the wing base, the instantaneous shape of an insect wing is dictated by the interaction of aerodynamic forces with the inertial and elastic forces that arise from periodic accelerations of the wing. Passive wing deformation is an unavoidable feature of flapping flight for many insects due to the inertial loads that accompany rapid stroke reversals—loads that well exceed the mean aerodynamic force. Although wing compliance has been implicated in a few lift-enhancing mechanisms (e.g., favorable camber), the direct aerodynamic consequences of wing deformation remain generally unresolved. In this paper, we present new experimental data on how wing compliance may affect the overall induced flow in the hawkmoth, Manduca sexta. Real moth wings were subjected to robotic actuation in their dominant plane of rotation at a natural wing beat frequency of 25 Hz. We used digital particle image velocimetry at exceptionally high temporal resolution (2,100 fps) to assess the influence of wing compliance on the mean advective flows, relying on a natural variation in wing stiffness to alter the amount of emergent deformation (freshly extracted wings are flexible and exhibit greater compliance than those that are desiccated). We find that flexible wings yield mean advective flows with substantially greater magnitudes and orientations more beneficial to lift than those of stiff wings. Our results confirm that wing compliance plays a critical role in the production of flight forces. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

A computational study of the wing–wing and wing–body interactions of a model insect

The aerodynamic interaction between the contralateral wings and between the body and wings of a model insect are studied, by using the method of numerically solving the Navier-Stokes equations over moving overset grids, under typical hovering and forward flight conditions. Both the interaction between the contralateral wings and the interaction between the body and wings are very weak, e.g. at hovering, changes in aerodynamic forces of a wing due to the present of the other wing are less than 3% and changes in aerodynamic forces of the wings due to presence of the body are less than 2%. The reason for this is as following. During each down- or up-stroke, a wing produces a vortex ring, which induces a relatively large jet-like flow inside the ring but very small flow outside the ring. The vortex rings of the left and right wings are on the two sides of the body. Thus one wing is outside vortex ring of the other wing and the body is outside the vortex rings of the left and right wings, resulting in the weak interactions.     

昆虫飞行的空气动力学

昆虫是最早出现、数量最多和体积最小的飞行者. 它们能悬停、跃升、急停、快速加速和转弯, 飞行技巧十分高超. 由于尺寸小, 因而翅膀的相对速度很小, 从而进行上述飞行所需的升力系数很大. 但昆虫翅膀的雷诺数又很低. 它们是如何在低雷诺数下产生高升力的, 是流体力学和生物学工作者都十分关心的问题. 近年来这一领域有了许多研究进展. 该文对这些进展进行综述, 并对今后工作提一些建议. 因2005 年前的工作已在几篇综述文章有了详细介绍, 该文主要介绍2005 年以来的工作. 首先简述昆虫翅的拍动运动及昆虫绕流的基本方程和相似参数; 然后对2005 年之前的工作做一简要回顾. 之后介绍2005 年后的进展, 依次为: 运动学观测; 前缘涡; 翅膀柔性变形及皱褶的影响; 拍动翅的尾涡结构; 翼/身、左右翅气动干扰及地面效应; 微小昆虫; 蝴蝶与蜻蜓; 机动飞行. 最后为对今后工作的建议.      

Structural Analysis of a Dragonfly Wing

Dragonfly wings are highly corrugated, which increases the stiffness and strength of the wing significantly, and results in a lightweight structure with good aerodynamic performance. How insect wings carry aerodynamic and inertial loads, and how the resonant frequency of the flapping wings is tuned for carrying these loads, is however not fully understood. To study this we made a three-dimensional scan of a dragonfly (Sympetrum vulgatum) fore- and hindwing with a micro-CT scanner. The scans contain the complete venation pattern including thickness variations throughout both wings. We subsequently approximated the forewing architecture with an efficient three-dimensional beam and shell model. We then determined the wing’s natural vibration modes and the wing deformation resulting from analytical estimates of 8 load cases containing aerodynamic and inertial loads (using the finite element solver Abaqus). Based on our computations we find that the inertial loads are 1.5 to 3 times higher than aerodynamic pressure loads. We further find that wing deformation is smaller during the downstroke than during the upstroke, due to structural asymmetry. The natural vibration mode analysis revealed that the structural natural frequency of a dragonfly wing in vacuum is 154 Hz, which is approximately 4.8 times higher than the natural flapping frequency of dragonflies in hovering flight (32.3 Hz). This insight in the structural properties of dragonfly wings could inspire the design of more effective wings for insect-sized flapping micro air vehicles: The passive shape of aeroelastically tailored wings inspired by dragonflies can in principle be designed more precisely compared to sail like wings —which can make the dragonfly-like wings more aerodynamically effective.     

蜻蜓滑翔时柔性褶皱前翅气动特性分析

蜻蜓是自然界优秀的飞行家,滑翔是其常见且有效的飞行模式.蜻蜓优异的飞行能力来源于其翅膀的巧妙结构,褶皱是蜻蜓翅膀上最为显著的结构之一,不仅提高了翅膀的刚度,还改变了其气动特性,而飞行过程中柔性翅膀会产生变形是蜻蜓翅膀的另一特性.为揭示蜻蜓在滑翔时,柔性褶皱前翅的变形,探究褶皱和柔性的共同作用对其气动特性的影响,基于逆向工程,依据前人的测量数据和研究成果,通过三维建模软件建立了蜻蜓三维褶皱前翅的计算流体力学(computational fluiddynamics,CFD)模型和计算结构力学(computational structuralmechanics,CSD)模型,并通过模态分析验证了此模型有足够的精度.基于CFD方法和CFD/CSD双向流固耦合计算方法分别对蜻蜓滑翔飞行时刚性和柔性褶皱前翅的气动特性进行了数值模拟,结果表明,柔性褶皱前翅受气动载荷后,翅脉和翅膜产生形变,柔性前翅上下表面压力差相较于刚性前翅减小了,从而其升力和阻力也减小了,而在大攻角时,变形后的前缘脉诱导出比刚性前翅更强的前缘涡.因此在攻角小于10$^\circ$时刚性前翅的气动特性优于柔性前翅,继续增大攻角,柔性前翅的气动特性则优于刚性前翅.前翅受载后气动响应时间短,翅尖的变形最大,仅仅产生了垂直于翅膀所在平面方向上的变形,而没有发生扭转,翼根处受到应力最大,褶皱上凸部分承受蜻蜓滑翔时前翅的主要载荷.      

Force production and asymmetric deformation of a flexible flapping wing in forward flight

Insect wings usually are flexible and deform significantly under the combined inertial and aerodynamic load. To study the effect of wing flexibility on both lift and thrust production in forward flight, a two-dimensional numerical simulation is employed to compute the fluid–structure interaction of an elastic wing section translating in an inclined stroke plane while pitching around its leading ledge. The effects of the wing stiffness, mass ratio, stroke plane angle, and flight speed are considered. The results show that the passive pitching due to wing deformation can significantly increase thrust while either maintaining lift at the same level or increasing it simultaneously. Another important finding is that even though the wing structure and actuation kinematics are symmetric, chordwise deformation of the wing shows a larger magnitude during upstroke than during downstroke. The asymmetry is more pronounced when the wing has a low mass ratio so that the fluid-induced deformation is significant. Such an aerodynamic cause may serve as an additional mechanism for the asymmetric deformation pattern observed in real insects.     

FORCED WAVE PROPAGATION IN VISCOELASTIC CABLE WITH SMALL SAG

Based on the linear viscoelastic differential constitutive law and cable structural model, the coupled longitudinal-transverse waves that propagate along a viscoelastic cable with small curvature is investigated. A mathematical model is presented that describes the three-dimensional nonlinear response of a viscoelastic cable. An asymptotic form of this model is obtained for the linear response of cables having small equilibrium curvature. The spectral relation governing the propagating waves is derived using transform methods. The spectral relation is employed in deriving a Green's function that is then used to construct solutions for in-plane response under distributed harmonic excitation. Analysis of forced response reveals the existence of two types of periodic waves that propagate through the cable, one characterizing extension-comprehensive deformation and the other characteristic transverse deformation. Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 59635140).     

A viscoelastic constitutive model of rubber under small oscillatory load superimposed on large static deformation

Summary  A viscoelastic constitutive equation of rubber that is under small oscillatory load superimposed on large static deformation is proposed. The model is derived through linearization of Simo's nonlinear viscoelastic constitutive model and reference configuration transformation. Most importantly, in this model, static deformation correction factor is introduced to consider the influence of pre-strain on the relaxation function. Natural statically pre-deformed state is served as reference configuration. The proposed constitutive equation is extended to a generalized viscoelastic constitutive equation that includes widely used Morman's model as a special case using objective stress increment. The proposed constitutive model is tested for dynamic behavior of rubber specimens with different carbon black content. It is concluded from the test that the assumption that the effects of static deformation can be separated from time effects, which is the basis of Morman's model, is only applicable to unfilled rubber. The viscoelastic constitutive equation for filled rubber must include, therefore, the influence of the static deformation on the time effects. The suggested constitutive equation with static deformation correction factor shows good agreement with test values. Received 4 January 2001; accepted for publication 13 June 2001     

NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF INSECT FLIGHT

In the non-inertial coordinates attached to the model wing, the two-dimensional unsteady flow field triggered by the motion of the model wing, similar to the flapping of the insect wings, was numerically simulated. One of the advantages of our method is that it has avoided the difficulty related to the moving-boundary problem. Another advantage is that the model has three degrees of freedom and can be used to simulate arbitrary motions of a two-dimensional wing in plane only if the motion is known. Such flexibility allows us to study how insects control their flying. Our results show that there are two parameters that are possibly utilized by insects to control their flight: the phase difference between the wing translation and rotation, and the lateral amplitude of flapping along the direction perpendicular to the average flapping plane.     

A simulation-based study on longitudinal gust response of flexible flapping wings

Winged animals such as insects are capable of flying and surviving in an unsteady and unpredictable aerial environment. They generate and control aerodynamic forces by flapping their flexible wings. While the dynamic shape changes of their flapping wings are known to enhance the efficiency of their flight, they can also affect the stability of a flapping wing flyer under unpredictable disturbances by responding to the sudden changes of aerodynamic forces on the wing. In order to test the hypothesis, the gust response of flexible flapping wings is investigated numerically with a specific focus on the passive maintenance of aerodynamic forces by the wing flexibility. The computational model is based on a dynamic flight simulator that can incorporate the realistic morphology, the kinematics, the structural dynamics, the aerodynamics and the fluid–structure interactions of a hovering hawkmoth. The longitudinal gusts are imposed against the tethered model of a hovering hawkmoth with flexible flapping wings. It is found that the aerodynamic forces on the flapping wings are affected by the gust, because of the increase or decrease in relative wingtip velocity or kinematic angle of attack. The passive shape change of flexible wings can, however, reduce the changes in the magnitude and direction of aerodynamic forces by the gusts from various directions, except for the downward gust. Such adaptive response of the flexible structure to stabilise the attitude can be classified into the mechanical feedback, which works passively with minimal delay, and is of great importance to the design of bio-inspired flapping wings for micro-air vehicles.     

多孔硅橡胶有限变形的粘弹性行为

针对孔隙度较大（孔隙度大于50％）的硅橡胶材料在有限变形时的粘弹性行为，从建立描述材料粘弹性特征的松驰函数和变形特征的应变能函数出发，提出了适合多孔隙、可压硅橡胶材料的非线性粘弹性力学行为的本构关系，松驰函数和应变能函数可解耦为等容和体积变形两部分，并引入了拟时间的概念来反映变形对材料特征时间的影响，利用硅橡胶材料的单轴压缩松驰实验与材料模型进行了对比，讨论了多孔硅橡胶的等容变形和体积变形对应力松驰的影响。     

The aerodynamic forces and pressure distribution of a revolving pigeon wing

The aerodynamic forces acting on a revolving dried pigeon wing and a flat card replica were measured with a propeller rig, effectively simulating a wing in continual downstroke. Two methods were adopted: direct measurement of the reaction vertical force and torque via a forceplate, and a map of the pressures along and across the wing measured with differential pressure sensors. Wings were tested at Reynolds numbers up to 108,000, typical for slow-flying pigeons, and considerably above previous similar measurements applied to insect and hummingbird wing and wing models. The pigeon wing out-performed the flat card replica, reaching lift coefficients of 1.64 compared with 1.44. Both real and model wings achieved much higher maximum lift coefficients, and at much higher geometric angles of attack (43°), than would be expected from wings tested in a windtunnel simulating translating flight. It therefore appears that some high-lift mechanisms, possibly analogous to those of slow-flying insects, may be available for birds flapping with wings at high angles of attack. The net magnitude and orientation of aerodynamic forces acting on a revolving pigeon wing can be determined from the differential pressure maps with a moderate degree of precision. With increasing angle of attack, variability in the pressure signals suddenly increases at an angle of attack between 33° and 38°, close to the angle of highest vertical force coefficient or lift coefficient; stall appears to be delayed compared with measurements from wings in windtunnels.     

Reduced coupled flapping wing-fluid computational model with unsteady vortex wake

Insect flight research is propelled by their unmatched flight capabilities. However, complex underlying aerodynamic phenomena make computational modeling of insect-type flapping flight a challenging task, limiting our ability in understanding insect flight and producing aerial vehicles exploiting same aerodynamic phenomena. To this end, novel mid-fidelity approach to modeling insect-type flapping vehicles is proposed. The approach is computationally efficient enough to be used within optimal design and optimal control loops, while not requiring experimental data for fitting model parameters, as opposed to widely used quasi-steady aerodynamic models. The proposed algorithm is based on Helmholtz–Hodge decomposition of fluid velocity into curl-free and divergence-free parts. Curl-free flow is used to accurately model added inertia effects (in almost exact manner), while expressing system dynamics by using wing variables only, after employing symplectic reduction of the coupled wing-fluid system at zero level of vorticity (thus reducing out fluid variables in the process). To this end, all terms in the coupled body-fluid system equations of motion are taken into account, including often neglected terms related to the changing nature of the added inertia matrix (opposed to the constant nature of rigid body mass and inertia matrix). On the other hand—in order to model flapping wing system vorticity effects—divergence-free part of the flow is modeled by a wake of point vortices shed from both leading (characteristic for insect flight) and trailing wing edges. The approach is evaluated for a numerical case involving fruit fly hovering, while quasi-steady aerodynamic model is used as benchmark tool with experimentally validated parameters for the selected test case. The results indicate that the proposed approach is capable of mid-fidelity accurate calculation of aerodynamic loads on the insect-type flapping wings.

     

纤维加强复合材料的总体粘弹性响应

在某些纤维增强复合材料(FRC)中使用金属或高分子聚合物作为基体材料。在高温等情况下,这类材料具有明显的粘弹性特性。本文采用Riemann—Liouville形式的分数阶导数模型描述基体的粘弹性特性。通过渐近均匀化方法给出了预测FRC整体三维本构关系的解析表达式。给出了应用于基体具有Makris粘弹性关系的具体形式。以圆截面纤维正方形排列的情形为例,给出了等效模量随纤维体积比的变化曲线。结果说明,这类复合材料仍具有粘弹性特性,其整体粘弹性本构关系的弹性部分综合了纤维弹性和基体弹性的贡献,粘性部分来自基体粘性的贡献,复合材料具有和基体相同的粘性系数和分数阶。为分析微结构特征对整体特性的贡献,须求解两类局部问题。可以看出,在整体的等效模量中包含了局部变形的贡献,局部变形增加了复合材料的耦合刚度。     

一种适合橡胶类材料的非线性粘弹性本构模型

借助非线性流变模型建立大变形情况非线性粘弹材料的本构关系,考虑到大多数橡胶类材料具有的几乎不可压缩性,以及体积响应和剪切响应的流变性能不同,将变形梯度乘法分解为等容部分和体积变形部分,给出了一种适合橡胶类材料的非线性粘弹性本构模型,并模拟了粘滞效应。对于极快或极慢的过程,该模型退化为橡胶弹性理论;在小变形情况下退化为经典的广义Maxwell粘弹性材料。模型与热力学第二定律相容,适合于大规模数值分析。     

昆虫飞行参数测量实验研究进展

在昆虫飞行的实验研究中,可采用活体实验、模型实验和活体模型结合三种方法。活体实验可以客观反映自然界中昆虫的飞行规律,获得真实的实验数据,但可重复性差。模型实验作为机械装置可以重复进行试验,详细描述流场结构并定量各种参数大小,但与真实飞行存在一定差距。单独使用这两种中的任一方法均可对一些现象给出了解释。二者相结合的方法更易于准确描述昆虫的运动特征,通过对比模型与活体的结果来提出机理,尽管需要的实验周期较长,但结论往往更接近真实状态,基于该方法科学家们已提出了几种飞行机理。本文结合近几年文献报道,综述了昆虫飞行参数测量方法,并对以上几种方法在研究昆虫飞行机理中的作用进行了对比分析,认为模型和活体结合的研究方法更容易为一些飞行现象提出合理解释。     

Aerodynamic calculation of normal hovering flight

The theory of a lifting surface is used to construct a model of three-dimensional unsteady flow past a pair of flapping wings in the regime of normal hovering flight. A numerical method is used to make an aero-dynamic calculation of the wings and find kinematics generating a lift sufficient for the flight of an insect.