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Effects of pitching rotation on aerodynamics of tandem flapping wing sections of a hovering dragonfly

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 February 2016

E. M. Elarbi  and
N. Qin
E. M. Elarbi
Affiliation:
n.qin@sheffield.ac.uk, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
N. Qin
Affiliation:
n.qin@sheffield.ac.uk, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
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Abstract

This paper studies hovering capability of flapping two-dimensional tandem wing sections inspired by a real dragonfly wing configuration and kinematics. Based on unsteady numerical simulations, the dragonfly corrugated wings have been benchmarked against a flat wing in terms of the aerodynamic forces and flow structures generated during a flapping cycle. The timing of rotation at each stroke is studied by pitch rotation at three different rates, i.e., 80%, 60% and 40% of a flapping period. The results suggest that the longer time pitch rotation with the period of 80% of the overall flapping period is closer to the force calculations obtained of a balanced flight, that is, the mean vertical force supports the dragonfly weight of 0.754 g with a small difference of 0.92% and the mean horizontal force indicates negligible thrust. However, the corrugated wing performs aerodynamically differently from the flat plate with differences in and in by ±2.06% for the corrugated shape. The vorticity flow field for both wings have been recorded at some instants of flapping motions which give more explanation of such dissimilarity.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Aeronautical Journal , Volume 114 , Issue 1161 , November 2010 , pp. 699 - 710
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Aeronautical Society 2010 

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