Hoang Vu Phana, b, c, Quang Tri Truongd, Thi Kim Loan Aua, b, c, Hoon Cheol Parka, b, c, , 

a Artificial Muscle Research Center, Konkuk University, Seoul 143-701, South Korea

b National Research Laboratory for Biomimetics and Intelligent Microsystems, Konkuk University, Seoul 143-701, South Korea

c Department of Advanced Technology Fusion, Konkuk University, Seoul, 143-701, South Korea

d Laboratory of Applied Mechanics, Faculty of Applied Science, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, Ho Chi Minh, 740-128, Vietnam

 

Abstract

We investigated the effect of wing kinematics modulation, which was achieved by adjusting the location of trailing-edge constraint at the wing-root, i.e., by adjusting the wing-root offset, on the generation of aerodynamic forces in a hovering insect-mimicking Flapping-Wing Micro Air Vehicle (FW-MAV) by numerical and experimental studies. Three-dimensional wing kinematics measured using three synchronized high-speed cameras revealed a clear difference in the wing rotation angle of a wing section for different wing-root offsets. The extrapolated wing kinematics were in good agreement with the measured ones for various wing-root offsets. The Unsteady Blade Element Theory (UBET) was used to estimate the forces generated by the flapping wings and validated by comparison with results of measurements performed using a load cell. Although the thrust produced by a flapping wing with a wing-root offset of 0.20Full-size image (8 K) was about 4% less, its force-to-input-power ratio was about 30% and 10% higher than those with the offsets of 0.10 Full-size image (8 K) and 0.15 Full-size image (8 K), respectively. This result could be explained by analyzing the effective Angle of Attack (AoA) and the force components computed by the UBET. Thus, a flapping wing with a wing-root offset of 0.20 Full-size image (8 K); can be regarded as an optimal twist configuration for the development of the FW-MAV.

 

Keywords

wing kinematics; flapping-wing MAV; biomimetics; beetle-mimicking; insect flight; linear extrapolation

 

Full text is available at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S167265291460144X