This contribution provides the development of a stochastic lift and drag model for an airfoil FX 79-W151A under unsteady wind inflow based on wind tunnel measurements. Here we present the integration of the stochastic model into a well-known standard BEM (Blade Element Momentum) model to obtain the corresponding aerodynamic forces on a rotating blade element. The stochastic model is integrated ...

Flapping-wing robotic platforms based on Dipteran insects have demonstrated lift to weight ratios greater than 1, but research into regulating the aerodynamic forces produced by their wings has largely focused on active wing trajectory control. In an alternate approach, a flapping-wing drivetrain design that passively balances aerodynamic drag torques is presented. A discussion of the dynamic p...

This work describes the design and construction of a fully adaptive aircraft configuration used as an experimental testbed for aerodynamic modeling and flight control. The adaptive model is designed to achieve large scale shape changes in order to investigate morphing for multi-mission UAVs. There are five independent planform changes along with independent twist control for each wing. Wind tun...

The blades of wind turbines are the most important parts in producing power output. In this study, a section of a 660 KW wind turbine blade will be installed in Iran in near future was tested in a wind tunnel. In addition to steady tests, various unsteady tests including the effects of reduced frequency, mean angle of attack, and amplitudes were carried out. The preliminary results show strong ...

An intensive experimental investigation was conducted to study the effect of vertical tail, single and twin (with different cant angles) on the flow field and the corresponding aerodynamic forces and moments of a model of a fighter A/C. Aerodynamic forces under different flight conditions and different vertical tail settings were measured in a supersonic wind tunnel. Furthermore, effects of ver...

Adaptive mesh refinement is one of the most important tools in Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) for solving complex engineering design problems. The paper investigates two practical transonic aerofoil design optimization problems using a genetic algorithm coupled with an Euler aerodynamic analysis tool. The first problem consists in the minimization of transonic drag whereas the second is a r...

Flapping flight is an increasingly popular area of research, with applications to micro-unmanned air vehicles and animal flight biomechanics. Fast, but accurate methods for predicting the aerodynamic loads acting on flapping wings are of interest for designing such aircraft and optimizing thrust production. In this work, the unsteady vortex lattice method is used in conjunction with three load ...

Insect wings in flight typically deform under the combined aerodynamic force and wing inertia; whichever is dominant depends on the mass ratio defined as m = sh / fc , where sh is the surface density of the wing, f is the density of the air, and c is the characteristic length of the wing. To study the differences that the wing inertia makes in the aerodynamic performance of the deformable wing,...

An experimental study was conducted to investigate the aerodynamic characteristics of a NASA low speed GA(W)-1 airfoil at the chord Reynolds number of ReC=160,000. Aerodynamic hysteresis was observed for the angles of attack close to the static stall angle of the airfoil. In addition to mapping surface pressure distribution around the airfoil, a high-resolution PIV system was used to make detai...

The juvenile period is often a crucial interval for selective pressure on locomotor ability. Although flight is central to avian biology, little is known about factors that limit flight performance during development. To improve understanding of flight ontogeny, we used a propeller (revolving wing) model to test how wing shape and feather structure influence aerodynamic performance during devel...