Aerodynamics of a wing under figure-of-eight flapping motion: FSI simulations
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
11-1-2021
Abstract
This paper investigates the aerodynamics of a wing under figure-of-eight flapping motion based on Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI) Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations. The kinematic of a wing under figure-of-eight motion creates a condition with a variable angle-of-attack. The effect of using different angles of attack at an initial condition, namely initial pitch angles, for the wing and the spatial size of the figure-of-eight pattern, namely the input link angle, is investigated. The initial pitch angles input is varied from 0 degrees to 330 degrees in steps of 30 degrees, and the input link angles used are 30 degrees, 45 degrees, and 60 degrees. The Young's modulus of the wing is 3.4 GPa spanwise, which is the elastic modulus of balsa wood material. In comparison with an initial pitch angle of 0 degrees, the 90 degrees initial pitch angle shows much better flight performance in terms of lift generated and stability. The results show that the maximum average lift coefficient of 0.393 occurs at the 90 degrees initial pitch angle. The maximum lift-induced moment for the 90 degrees initial pitch angle is only 5.55% of the maximum lift induced moment for the 0 degrees initial pitch angle. A higher input link angle generates a greater lift force. The pressure distribution in the vicinity of the wing area and the von Mises stress of the wing are also presented.
Keywords
Figure-of-eight motion, Flapping wing, Angle-of-attack, Pitch angle, Elastic wing, Young's modulus, Input link angle, FSI
Divisions
fac_eng
Funders
Ministry of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change (MESTECC), Malaysia (SF002-2017),Universiti Malaya Impact-oriented Interdisciplinary Research Grant (IIRG005A2020IISS)
Publication Title
Aeronautical Journal
Volume
125
Issue
1293
Publisher
Cambridge Univ Press
Publisher Location
EDINBURGH BLDG, SHAFTESBURY RD, CB2 8RU CAMBRIDGE, ENGLAND