Numerical investigation on aerodynamic performance of a bionic flapping wing

This paper numerically studies the aerodynamic performance of a bird-like bionic flapping wing.The geometry and kinematics are designed based on a seagull wing,in which flapping,folding,swaying,and twisting are considered.An in-house unsteady flow solver based on hybrid moving grids.is adopted for unsteady flow simulations.We focus on two main issues in this study,i.e.,the influence of the proportion of down-stroke and the effect of span-wise twisting.Numerical results show that the proportion of downstroke is closely related to the efficiency of the flapping process.The preferable proportion is about 0.7 by using the present geometry and kinematic model,which is very close to the observed data.Another finding is that the drag and the power consumption can be greatly reduced by the proper span-wise twisting.Two cases with different reduced frequencies are simulated and compared with each other.The numerical results show that the power consumption reduces by more than 20%,and the drag coefficient reduces by more than 60% through a proper twisting motion for both cases.The flow mechanism is mainly due to controlling of unsteady flow separation by adjusting the local effective angle of attack.These conclusions will be helpful for the high-performance micro air vehicle (MAV) design.

Dynamic performance and wake structure of flapping plates with different shapes

The dynamic performance and wake structure of flapping plates with different shapes were studied using multi-block lattice Boltzman and immersed boundary method.Two typical regimes relevant to thrust behavior are identified.One is nonlinear relation between the thrust and the area moment of plate for lower area moment region and the other is linear relation for larger area moment region.The tendency of the power variation with the area moment is reasonably similar to the thrust behavior and the efficiency decreases gradually as the area moment increases.As the mechanism of the dynamic properties is associated with the evolution of vortical structures around the plate,the formation and evolution of vortical structures are investigated and the effects of the plate shape,plate area,Strouhal number and Reynolds number on the vortical structures are analyzed.The results obtained in this study provide physical insight into the understanding of the mechanisms relevant to flapping locomotion.

Dynamical mode decomposition of Gurney flap wake flow

The present work uses dynamic mode decomposition(DMD) to analyze wake flow of NACA0015 airfoil with Gurney flap.The physics of DMD is first introduced.Then the PIV-measured wake flow velocity field is decomposed into dynamical modes.The vortex shedding pattern behind the trailing edge and its high-order harmonics have been captured with abundant information such as frequency,wavelength and convection speed.It is observed that high-order dynamic modes convect faster than low-order modes;moreover the wavelength of the dynamic modes scales with the corresponding frequency in power law.

Aerodynamics of flexible wing in bees' hovering flight

The aerodynamics of 2-dimensional flexible wings in bees＇ normal hovering flight is studied. Four insect flapping flight coordinate systems, including a global system, a bodyfixed system, a rigid wing-fixed system and a flexible wingfixed system, are established to represent the insects＇ position, gesture, wing movement and wing deformation, respectively. Then the transformations among four coordinate systems are studied. It is found that the elliptic coordinate system can improve the computation accuracy and reduce the calculation complexity in a 2-dimensional rigid wing. The computation model of a 2-dimensional flexible wing is established, and the changes of the force, moment, and power are investigated. According to the computation results, the large lift and drag peaks at the beginning and end of the stroke can be explained by the superposition of the rapid translational acceleration, the fast pitching-up rotation and the Magnus effect; and the small force and drag peaks can be explained by the convex flow effect and the concave flow effect. Compared with the pressure force, pressure moment and translational power, the viscous force, viscous moment and rotational power are small and can be ignored.

Aerodynamic optimization of an adaptive flap for next-generation green aircraft

Adaptive,morphing flaps are taking ever-increasing attention in civil aviation thanks to the expected benefits this technology can bring at the aircraft level in terms of high-lift performance improvement and related fuel burnt reduction per flight.Relying upon morphing capabilities,it is possible to fix a unique setting for the flap and adapt the flap shape to match the aerodynamic requirements for take-off or landing.The proper morphed shapes can assure better high-lift performances than those achievable by referring to a conventional flap.Moreover,standing the unique flap setting for take-off and landing,a dramatic simplification of the flap deployment systems may be achieved.As a consequence of this simplification,the deployment system can be fully hosted in the wing,thus avoiding under-wing nacelles with significantly better aerodynamics and fuel consumption.The first step for a rational design of an adaptive flap consists in defining the target morphed shapes and the unique optimal flap setting in the take-off and landing phases.In this work,aerodynamic optimization analyses are carried out to determine the best flap setting and related morphed shapes in compliance with the take-off and landing requirements of a reference civil transport aircraft.Four different initial conditions are adopted to avoid the optimization falling into local optima,thus obtaining four groups of optimal candidate configurations.After comparing each candidate’s performance through 2D and 3D simulations,the optimal configuration has been selected.2D simulations show that the optimal configuration is characterized by a maximum lift increase of 31.92%in take-off and 9.04%in landing.According to 3D simulations,the rise in maximum lift equals 22.26%in take-off and 3.50%in landing.Numerical results are finally verified through wind tunnel tests,and the aerodynamic mechanism behind the obtained improvements is explained by carefully analyzing the flow field around the flap.

The effect of phase angle and wing spacing on tandem flapping wings

In a tandem wing configuration, the hindwing of- ten operates in the wake of the forewing and, hence, its per- formance is affected by the vortices shed by the forewing. Changes in the phase angle between the flapping motions of the fore and the hind wings, as well as the spacing between them, can affect the resulting vortex/wing and vortex/vortex interactions. This study uses 2D numerical simulations to in- vestigate how these changes affect the leading dege vortexes （LEV） generated by the hindwing and the resulting effect on the lift and thrust coefficients as well as the efficiencies. The tandem wing configuration was simulated using an incom- pressible Navier-Stokes solver at a chord-based Reynolds number of 5 000. A harmonic single frequency sinusoidal oscillation consisting of a combined pitch and plunge motion was used for the flapping wing kinematics at a Strouhal num- ber of 0.3. Four different spacings ranging from 0.1 chords to 1 chord were tested at three different phase angles, 0°, 90° and 180°. It was found that changes in the spacing and phase angle affected the timing of the interaction between the vor- tex shed from the forewing and the hindwing. Such an inter- action affects the LEV formation on the hindwing and results in changes in aerodynamic force production and efficiencies of the hindwing. It is also observed that changing the phase angle has a similar effect as changing the spacing. The re- suits further show that at different spacings the peak force generation occurs at different phase angles, as do the peak efficiencies.

Uncertainty quantification for a flapping airfoil with a stochastic velocity deviation

An outdoor flapping wing micro air vehicle （FWMAV） should be able to withstand unpredictable perturbations in the flight condition. The responses of the time-averaged thrust coefficient and the propulsive efficiency with respect to a stochastic flight velocity deviation were numerically investigated. The deviation was assumed to obey the Gauss distribution with a mean value of zero and a specified standard deviation. The probability distributions of the flapping performances were quantified by the non-intrusive polynomial chaos method. It was observed that both of the time-averaged thrust coefficient and the propulsive efficiency obeyed Gauss-like but not the exact Gauss distribution. The velocity deviation had a large effect on the time-averaged thrust coefficient and a small effect on the propulsive efficiency.

Structural and Operational Optimization of A Flapping Fin Used as A Self-Propulsor for AUV Propulsion

Marine mammals could directly harvest energy from waves and obtain propulsive force through oscillating flapping fins or horizontal tail flukes,which in many cases have been observed and proved to be substantial.The propulsion generated by the flapping fin has been analyzed by many researchers from both the theoretical and experimental prospects;however,the structural and operational optimization of a flapping fin for the optimal propulsion performance has been less studied,such as the investigation of the effects of the phase difference between heave and pitch motion,maximum oscillation angle,fin shape,oscillation centre of the fin and the operating sea state on the generated propulsion.In this paper,the flapping fin is used as a self-propulsor to propel an autonomous underwater vehicle(AUV)for propulsion assistance.For the optimization design of the flapping fin,its propulsion effect is numerically investigated with different structural parameters and under various operation conditions using computational fluid dynamics(CFD)approaches.Verification and validation study have been implemented to quantify the numerical uncertainties and evaluate the accuracy of the proposed CFD method.Then,a series of case studies are thoroughly conducted to investigate the effects of different structural parameters and operational conditions on the generated propulsion of a flapping fin by CFD simulations.The simulation results demonstrate that different structural parameters and operation conditions would significantly impact the magnitude and distribution state of the fluid pressure around the flapping fin surface,thus,affect the propulsion performance of the fin.The findings in this study will provide guidelines for the structural and operational optimization design of a flapping fin for self-propulsion of mobile platforms.

Structural Design and Analysis of Small Flapping Wing Aircraft Based on the Crank Slider Mechanism

In this project,the miniaturization of the aircraft was realized under the premise of strong maneuverability,high concealability,and driving a certain load,and the flight mode and structural characteristics of birds were imitated.A small bionic flapping wing aircraft was built.The flapping of the wing was realized by the crank slider mechanism,and the sizes of each part were calculated according to the bionics formula.The wingspan was 360.37 mm,the body width was 22 mm,the body length was 300 mm,the wing area was 0.05 m^(2),the flapping amplitude was 71°.ADAMS software was used to simulate the dynamics of the designed aircraft,and the variation of flapping amplitude and angular velocity during the movement of the aircraft was obtained,which verified the feasibility of the mechanism.The prototype aircraft was made for flight test,and the designed bionic flapping wing aircraft achieved the expected effect.It provides a theoretical basis and data support for the design and manufacture of small flapping wing aircraft.

考虑磨损演化的铰链式襟翼机构动力学仿真研究

不同卡位的襟翼气动载荷差别很大,使得轴承在不同襟翼偏角下所承受载荷也存在明显差异,这导致在不同角度位置的轴承磨损深度不一致。因此,引入均匀磨损深度的方法难以适用于襟翼的动力学特性分析。为解决这一问题,提出了一种基于最小二乘法的动力学建模方法。根据襟翼翼面的连接特点利用C-B法对其进行柔性化,并采用RBE2单元建立刚柔耦合动力学模型。联合UAMP、DISP、UMESHMOTION子程序进行磨损演化仿真,获取铰链轴承的非均匀磨损数据,同时通过最小二乘拟合建立磨损深度和襟翼偏角角度以及摩擦因数的映射关系。将该映射关系以铰链轴承中心点的偏移量和轴承摩擦因数的方式更新刚柔耦合动力学模型,以获取在磨损影响下的襟翼机构动力学响应,验证了方法的适用性和有效性。结果表明,随着磨损的进行,襟翼内外侧轴承转轴同轴度逐渐降低,内外侧驱动力矩随之增加,增加幅度最大为15.08%。该方法可为襟翼机构的设计及轴承选型提供一定支持。

D形柱对摆动水翼水动力性能影响分析

为了研究D形柱对摆动水翼的水动力性能影响机制,基于计算流体力学(CFD)方法,利用Fluent的动网格技术,计算均匀流场和D形柱尾流场中摆动水翼的水动力性能。通过改变摆动水翼的摆动频率和升沉振幅,计算摆动水翼在均匀流场下以及D形柱尾流场中的推进性能,并结合流场的压力分布云图和涡结构进行分析。结果表明:摆动频率和升沉振幅的增加均可以提升摆动水翼的平均推力;D形柱尾流场中摆动水翼的平均推力始终大于均匀流场中摆动水翼的平均推力;D形柱脱落的涡与摆动水翼前缘涡发生挤压作用,使摆动水翼的尾涡区域增大,脱落的涡耗散得更快,涡对之间诱导作用更强,产生更大的推力。

Nonlinear dynamics of a flapping rotary wing:Modeling and optimal wing kinematic analysis

The analysis of the passive rotation feature of a micro Flapping Rotary Wing（FRW）applicable for Micro Air Vehicle（MAV） design is presented in this paper. The dynamics of the wing and its influence on aerodynamic performance of FRW is studied at low Reynolds number（~10~3）.The FRW is modeled as a simplified system of three rigid bodies： a rotary base with two flapping wings. The multibody dynamic theory is employed to derive the motion equations for FRW. A quasi-steady aerodynamic model is utilized for the calculation of the aerodynamic forces and moments. The dynamic motion process and the effects of the kinematics of wings on the dynamic rotational equilibrium of FWR and the aerodynamic performances are studied. The results show that the passive rotation motion of the wings is a continuous dynamic process which converges into an equilibrium rotary velocity due to the interaction between aerodynamic thrust, drag force and wing inertia. This causes a unique dynamic time-lag phenomena of lift generation for FRW, unlike the normal flapping wing flight vehicle driven by its own motor to actively rotate its wings. The analysis also shows that in order to acquire a high positive lift generation with high power efficiency and small dynamic time-lag, a relative high mid-up stroke angle within 7–15° and low mid-down stroke angle within -40° to -35° are necessary. The results provide a quantified guidance for design option of FRW together with the optimal kinematics of motion according to flight performance requirement.

Unsteady Aerodynamic Forces and Power Consumption of a Micro Flapping Rotary Wing in Hovering Flight

The micro Flapping Rotary Wing （FRW） concept inspired by insects was proposed recently. Its aerodynamic performance is highly related to wing pitching and rotational motions. Therefore, the effect of wing pitching kinematics and rotational speed on unsteady aerodynamic forces and power consumption of a FRW in hovering flight is further studied in this paper using computational fluid dy- namics method. Considering a fixed pitching amplitude （i.e., 80°）, the vertical force of FRW increases with the downstroke angle of attack and is enhanced by high wing rotational speed. However, a high downstroke angle of attack is not beneficial for acquiring high rotational speed, in which peak vertical force at balance status （i.e., average rotational moment equals zero.） is only acquired at a comparatively small negative downstroke angle of attack. The releasing constraint of pitching amplitude, high rotational speed and enhanced balanced vertical force can be acquired by selecting small pitching amplitude despite high power consumption. To confirm which wing layout is more power efficient for a certain vertical force requirement, the power consumed by FRW is compared with the Rotary Wing （RW） and the Flapping Wing （FW） while considering two angle of attack strategies without the Reynolds number （Re） constraint. FRW and RW are the most power efficient layouts when the target vertical force is produced at an angle of attack that corresponds to the maximum vertical force coefficient and power efficiency, respectively. However, RW is the most power efficient layout overall despite its insufficient vertical force production capability under a certain Re.

Automated Kinematics Measurement and Aerodynamics of a Bioinspired Flapping Rotary Wing

A physical model for a micro air vehicle with Flapping Rotary Wings （FRW） is investigated by measuring the wing kine- matics in trim conditions and computing the corresponding aerodynamic force using computational fluid dynamics. In order to capture the motion image and reconstruct the positions and orientations of the wing, the photogrammetric method is adopted and a method for automated recognition of the marked points is developed. The characteristics of the realistic wing kinematics are presented. The results show that the non-dimensional rotating speed is a linear function of non-dimensional flapping frequency regardless of the initial angles of attack. Moreover, the effects of wing kinematics on aerodynamic force production and the underlying mechanism are analyzed. The results show that the wing passive pitching caused by elastic deformation can sig- nificantly enhance lift production. The Strouhal number of the FRW is much higher than that of general flapping wings, indi- cating the stronger unsteadiness of flows in FRW.

飞机襟翼阀控伺服作动系统动态性能分析

由于阀控伺服作动系统存在的非线性因素,传统的建模方法所建立的数学模型无法准确地反映系统实际情况。为提升液压系统的控制精度及动态响应性能,解决在实际系统试验中出现的动态特性超差问题,对可能引起的因素及关键参数进行研究,重点分析引起系统静态误差的主要因素,同时分析系统各关键元件的固有频率和阻尼比对系统动态性能的影响。利用Matlab/Simulink软件对系统进行非线性建模,理论推导计算及仿真结果分析表明,较高的系统各关键元件固有频率和阻尼比有利于提高系统动态性能。

基于小波变换与奇异值分解的飞鸟动态电磁散射特征提取

雷达探鸟是航空安全、环境生态等领域的热点问题。鸟类目标的雷达散射截面(RCS)较小,散射特征单一,给鸟类探测带来诸多挑战。为解决这些问题,本文提出一种基于小波变换与奇异值分解的飞鸟目标动态电磁散射特征提取方法。首先将飞鸟扑翼频率为2~20 Hz的动态RCS序列进行小波变换得到各分支小波系数,再对各分支小波系数进行重构,将小波系数组成的特征矩阵进行奇异值分解,用特征值对飞鸟动态电磁散射特征进行量化描述。为了验证该方法的有效性,本文在盘旋航迹和平飞航迹、水平极化和垂直极化下分别进行入射频率为0.5、1和3 GHz的数值实验对方法进行验证。结果表明特征值与飞鸟的扑翼频率呈现明显线性相关关系,能够有效反映飞鸟的运动特性,为鸟类目标的雷达探测与识别提供新的视角和思路。

Numerical and experimental studies of hydrodynamics of flapping foils

The flapping foil based on bionics is a sort of simplified models which imitate the motion of wings or fins of fish or birds. In this paper, a universal kinematic model with three degrees of freedom is adopted and the motion parallel to the flow direction is considered. The force coefficients, the torque coefficient, and the flow field characteristics are extracted and analyzed. Then the propulsive efficiency is calculated. The influence of the motion parameters on the hydrodynamic performance of the bionic foil is studied. The results show that the motion parameters play important roles in the hydrodynamic performance of the flapping foil. To validate the reliability of the numerical method used in this paper, an experiment platform is designed and verification experiments are carried out. Through the comparison, it is found that the numerical results compare well with the experimental results, to show that the adopted numerical method is reliable. The results of this paper provide a theoretical reference for the design of underwater vehicles based on the flapping propulsion.

基于STAR-CCM+的双体船尾插板阻力性能研究

船舶的阻力是影响船舶快速性的重要因素之一,为了减小阻力对船舶航行时的影响,以NPL4a双体船为研究对象,设计一种尾插板,基于计算流体力学(CFD)方法实施重叠网格方案来模拟船舶在静水中的运动,并与模型试验结果进行对比验证。对安装不同长度尾插板的减阻效果进行减阻性能研究,构建数值波浪水池,模拟迎浪规则波中有无尾插板的直航运动。结果表明:在静水中,1 mm尾插板平均减阻4.42%,3mm尾插板平均减阻5.3%,在Fn=0.5时,达到最大减阻率10.35%,5mm尾插板平均减阻3.42%;船舶在波浪高速航行时,带有尾插板的船体阻力小于裸船船体阻力。设计的尾插板达到减阻目的,研究成果可为以后的尾插板设计提供借鉴参考。

动态导航引导下下颌骨缺损腓骨瓣移植修复区种植体植入1例报告

腓骨瓣移植修复下颌骨缺损后常采用种植义齿修复缺牙。由于腓骨的截面类似三角形、恢复的骨高度不足及内固定钛钉钛板的存在,以修复为导向在移植腓骨上进行种植体植入成为口腔种植领域的难题。本文对1例腓骨瓣移植修复下颌骨缺损患者在动态导航引导下,在移植腓骨上精准植入4颗种植体以恢复缺牙和咀嚼功能,取得了理想效果。

仿生扑翼结构优化设计及动力学仿真分析

针对目前飞行器结构复杂、效率低下及动作单一等问题,设计一种新型仿生扑翼飞行机构,仅通过单驱动装置即可实现机构扑翼的扑动、折叠、扭转等运动。依据生物尺度率设计扑翼机构的结构尺寸并对机构参数进行优化;通过SolidWorks构建仿生三维模型并基于ANSYS Workbench对扑翼机构进行有限元分析,得到扑翼齿轮组、曲柄、主翼杆等主要部件的总形变、应力、等效应变及主、副翼动力学运动参数,为仿生样机研制提供理论支持。