Integrated Computational and Experimental Studies of Flapping-wing Micro Air Vehicle Aerodynamics

Abstract

This paper describes recent research on flapping-wing micro air vehicles, based on insect-like aerodynamics. A combined analytical, experimental and CFD approach is being adopted to understand and design suitable wing aerodynamics and kinematics. The CFD has used the Fluent 6 commercial code together with the grid-generating software Gambit 2; the experiments have been conducted in air and water, using various rigs and techniques. Part of our work has used 2D CFD and linear experiments (in a water tunnel). This has revealed details on vortex stability, the role of Kelvin-Helmholtz instability and Reynolds number effects. 3D CFD on rotating wings and equivalent experiments in a water tank have then been used to investigate the role of spanwise flow in the leading-edge vortex.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 01, 2007
Accession Number
ADA515529

Entities

People

  • Kenda Knowles
  • P. C. Wilkins
  • R. W. Zbikowski
  • S. A. Ansari

Organizations

  • Cranfield University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aeroelasticity
  • Air Force
  • Aircraft Equipment
  • Aircrafts
  • Airframes
  • Boundary Layer
  • Computational Fluid Dynamics
  • Fixed Wing Aircraft
  • Flow Visualization
  • Fluid Dynamics
  • Fluid Flow
  • Fluid Mechanics
  • Micro Air Vehicles
  • Three Dimensional
  • Two Dimensional
  • Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
  • Vehicles

Fields of Study

  • Engineering
  • Physics

Readers

  • Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)
  • Fluid Mechanics and Fluid Dynamics.