Some aeromechanical aspects of insect-like flapping wings in hover

Abstract

Micro air vehicles (MAVs) are defined as flying vehicles ca. 150 mm in size (hand-held) weighing 50–100 g, and are developed to reconnoitre in confined spaces (inside buildings, tunnels, etc.). For this application insect-like flapping wings are an attractive solution and hence the need to realize the functionality of insect flight by engineering means. Insects fly by oscillating (plunging) and rotating (pitching) their wings through large angles, while sweeping them forwards and backwards. During this motion the wing tip approximately traces a figure-of-eight and the wing changes the angle of attack (pitching) significantly.

This paper presents some aspects of aerodynamic modelling and mechanical design pertinent to engineering realization of insect-like flapping wings on the MAV scale. The aerodynamic modelling uses an indicial Polhamus approach which is implemented in a modular manner. Comparisons are presented with experimental force data from a dynamically scaled insect model and generally show good agreement. The design is then described of a four-bar linkage mechanism to drive an insect-like flapping-wing motion. The indicial Polhamus aerodynamic model was used as part of the design process to predict wing loading. This highlighted some interesting interactions between the position of the wing pitch axis and its loading. The paper concludes with some directions for future work in this challenging field.

Keywords

flapping wings micro air vehicles MAV unsteady aerodynamics

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Żbikowski

Flapping wing autonomous micro air vehicles: Research programme outline. In the Fourteenth International Conference on

Unmanned Air Vehicle Systems, Bristol, 1999, Supplementary Papers, pp. 38.1–38.5.

Żbikowski

Flapping wing micro air vehicle: A guided platform for microsensors. In the Royal Aeronautical Society Conference on

Nanotechnology and Microengineering for Future Guided Weapons, London, 1999, pp. 1.1–1.11.

Żbikowski

Flapping wing technology. In the European Military Rotorcraft Symposium, Shrivenham, 21–23 March 2000, pp. 1–7.

Dudley

The Biomechanics of Insect Flight: Form, Function, Evolution, 2000 (Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey).

Ellington

C. P.

van den Berg

Willmott

A. P.

Thomas

A. L.R.

Leading-edge vortices in insect flight. Nature, 1996, 384 (6610), 626–630.

Birch

J. M.

Dickinson

M. H.

Spanwise flow and the attachment of the leading-edge vortex on insect wings. Nature, 2001, 412 (6848), 729–733.

Srygley

R. B.

Thomas

A. L.

R. Unconventional lift-generating mechanisms in free-flying butterflies. Nature, 2002, 420 (6916), 660–664.

Żbikowski, R. On aerodynamic modelling of an insect-like flapping wing in hover for micro air vehicles. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. (Ser. A: Math., Phys. Engng Sci.), 2002, 360 (1791), 273–290.

Leishman

J. G.

Principles of Helicopter Aerodynamics, 2000. (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge).

10.

Polhamus

E. C.

A concept of the vortex lift of sharp-edge delta wings based on a leading-edge-suction analogy. NASA Technical Note TN D-3767, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1966.

11.

von Karman

Sears

W. R.

Airfoil theory for nonuniform motion. J. Aeronaut. Sci., 1938, 5 (10), 379–390.

12.

van der Wall

B. G.

Leishman

J. G.

On the influence of time-varying flow velocity on unsteady aerodynamics. J. Am. Helicopter Soc., 1994, 39 (4), 25–36.

13.

Loewy

R. G.

A two-dimensional approximation to the unsteady aerodynamics of rotary wings. J. Aeronaut. Sci., 1957, 24 (2), 81–92, 144.

14.

Kussner

H. G.

Zusammenfassender Bericht uber den instationaren Auftrieb von Flugeln. Luftfahrtforschung, 1936, 13 (12), 410–424.

15.

Sedov

L. I.

Two-dimensional Problems in Hydrodynamics and Aerodynamics, 1965 (Interscience Publishers, New York).

16.

Ennos

A. R.

The kinematics and aerodynamics of the free flight of some Diptera. J. Expl Biology, 1989, 142, 49–85.

17.

Hartenberg

R. S.

Denavit

Kinematic Synthesis of Linkages, 1964 (McGraw-Hill, New York).

18.

Hunt

K. H.

Kinematic Geometry of Mechanisms, 1978 (Clarendon Press, Oxford).

19.

Dickinson

M. H.

Lehmann

F. O.

Sane

S. P.

Wing rotation and the aerodynamic basis of insect flight. Science, 1999, 284, 1954–1960.

20.

Dijksman

E. A.

Motion Geometry of Mechanisms, 1976 (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge).

21.

Sane

S. P.

Dickinson

M. H.

The control of flight force by a flapping wing: Lift and drag production. J. Expl Biology, 2001, 204 (15), 2607–2626.

22.

Sane

S. P.

Dickinson

M. H.

The aerodynamic effects of wing rotation and a revised quasi-steady model of flapping flight. J. Expl Biology, 2002, 205 (8), 1087–1096.

23.

Żbikowski

Galiński

Pedersen

C. B.

A four-bar linkage mechanism for insect-like flapping wings in hover: Concept and an outline of its realisation. Trans. ASME, J. Mech. Des., 2005 (accepted for publication).

24.

Wootton

R. J.

Support and deformability in insect wings. J. Zoology, 1981, 193 (April), 447–468.

25.

Wootton

R. J.

Functional morphology of insect wings. Ann. Rev. Entomology, 1992, 37, 113–140.