摘要
The sophisticated structures of flapping insect wings make it challenging to study the role of wing flexibility in insect flight.In this study,a mass-spring system is used to model wing structural dynamics as a thin,flexible membrane supported by a network of veins.The vein mechanical properties can be estimated based on their diameters and the Young's modulus of cuticle.In order to analyze the effect of wing flexibility,the Young's modulus is varied to make a comparison between two different wing models that we refer to as flexible and highly flexible.The wing models are coupled with a pseudo-spectral code solving the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations,allowing us to investigate the influence of wing deformation on the aerodynamic efficiency of a tethered flapping bumblebee.Compared to the bumblebee model with rigid wings,the one with flexible wings flies more efficiently,characterized by a larger lift-to-power ratio.
基金
Financial support from the Agence Nationale de la Recherche(ANR)(Grant 15-CE40-0019)and Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft(DFG)(Grant SE 824/26-1),project AIFIT
HPC resources of IDRIS under the allocation No.2018-91664 attributed by Grand Equipement National de Calcul Intensif(GENCI)
Centre de Calcul Intensif d'Aix-Marseille is acknowledged for granting access to its high performance computing resources financed by the project Equip@Meso(No.ANR-10-EQPX-29-01)
financial support granted by the ministeres des Affaires etrangeres et du developpement international(MAEDI)et de l'Education nationale et l'enseignement superieur,de la recherche et de l'innovation(MENESRI),the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst(DAAD)within the French-German Procope project FIFIT
financial support from the JSPS KAKENHI Grant No.JP18K13693。