The aerodynamic features of a bio-realistic 3D fruit fly wing in steady state (snapshot) flight conditions were analyzed numerically. The wing geometry was created from high resolution micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) of the fruit fly Drosophila virilis. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analyses of the wing were conducted at ultra-low Reynolds numbers ranging from 71 to 200, and at angles...

The cause of the changes in wing pitch at stroke reversal in Diptera has been investigated. The high compliance of the wing base makes it seem unlikely that pitch changes are caused by active torsion at the wing articulation. The centre of mass of insect wings tends to be behind the centre of torsion of the wing, and it is proposed that wing inertia about the torsional axis alone is responsible...

The influence of deformation on aerodynamic characteristics is studied in this paper. To study the influences of deformation magnitude and range separately, a kind of twopart flapping wing model is designed, which separates the deformation magnitude and range, and makes the measurement of deformation easier. A series of wind-tunnel experiments are carried out to explore the influence. The exper...

This study presents an aeroelastic wing shaping control concept for distributed propulsion aircraft. By leveraging wing flexibility, wing-mounted distributed propulsion can be used to re-twist wing shapes in-flight to improve aerodynamic efficiency. A multidisciplinary approach is used to develop an aero-propulsive-elastic model of a highly flexible wing distributed propulsion transport aircraf...

Flying insects may enhance their flight force production by contralateral wing interaction during dorsal stroke reversal ('clap-and-fling'). In this study, we explored the forces and moments due to clap-and-fling at various wing tip trajectories, employing a dynamically scaled electromechanical flapping device. The 17 tested bio-inspired kinematic patterns were identical in stroke amplitude, st...

Birds usually moult their feathers in a particular sequence which may incur aerodynamic, physiological and behavioural implications. Among birds, hummingbirds are unique species in their sustained hovering flight. Because hummingbirds frequently hover-feed, they must maintain sufficiently high flight capacities even when moulting their flight feathers. A hummingbird wing consists of 10 primary ...

The vortex dynamics of leading-edge vortices on plunging high-aspect-ratio ( AR = 10) wings and airfoils were investigated by means volumetric velocity measurements, numerical simulations stability analysis to understand the deformation filament spanwise instabilities. filaments both wing airfoil exhibit waves, but with different origins. presence a wing-tip causes leg remain attached upper sur...