Unsteady aero structural response of natural flyers in turbulent environments
Abstract
The Idea is to characterise and understand the response of birds to atmospheric turbulence. By simultaneously measuring the characteristics of turbulence and the animal’s response we will reveal strategies employed in the natural world to hold straight and level flight. The understanding gained will give insights into design philosophy and control strategies for man made Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs), where holding a relatively stable viewing platform is extremely difficult but is required if useful flight can be achieved under a range of wind conditions and through complex terrains. Thus our research questions are: 1. How do birds deal with turbulence? 1.1. In what way does the wing kinematics-wing shape change when encountering continuous turbulence? 1.2. How do these changes correspond to the properties of the turbulence (intensity, frequency, length scale, orientation)? MAVs are developed in smooth flow wind tunnels or computational flow simulations yet their desired operational roles span a wide range of conditions and environments. Currently their use is restricted to times of relatively calm conditions, well removed from the turbulence inherent in the wakes of structures, buildings, terrain and vegetation. However, MAVs most commonly operate in these complex terrains where the gust velocities can be of similar magnitude to flight speeds. This poses a considerable challenge, which has restricted the use of MAVs to far more limited flight environments and weather conditions than their natural counterparts.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Jan 14, 2022
- Source ID
- FA95501917017
Entities
People
- Abdulghani Mohamed
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- RMIT University
- United States Air Force