Numerical analysis of the three-dimensional aerodynamics of a hovering rufous hummingbird(Selasphorus rufus)

Hummingbirds have a unique way of hover- ing. However, only a few published papers have gone into details of the corresponding three-dimensional vortex struc- tures and transient aerodynamic forces. In order to deepen the understanding in these two realms, this article presents an integrated computational fluid dynamics study on the hovering aerodynamics of a rufous hummingbird. The original morphological and kinematic data came from a former researcher＇s experiments. We found that conical and sta- ble leading-edge vortices （LEVs） with spanwise flow inside their cores existed on the hovering hummingbird＇s wing surfaces. When the LEVs and other near-field vortices were all shed into the wake after stroke reversals, periodically shed bilateral vortex rings were formed. In addition, a strong downwash was present throughout the flapping cycle. Time histories of lift and drag were also obtained. Combining the three-dimensional flow field and time history of lift, we believe that high lift mechanisms （i.e., rotational circulation and wake capture） which take place at stroke reversals in insect flight was not evident here. For mean lift throughout a whole cycle, it is calculated to be 3.60 g （104.0 % of the weight support）. The downstroke and upstroke provide 64.2 % and 35.8 % of the weight support, respectively.

Dynamic flight stability of a hovering model insect:lateral motion

The lateral dynamic flight stability of a hovering model insect （dronefly） was studied using the method of computational fluid dynamics to compute the stability derivatives and the techniques of eigenvalue and eigenvector analysis for solving the equations of motion. The main results are as following. （i） Three natural modes of motion were identified： one unstable slow divergence mode （mode 1）, one stable slow oscillatory mode （mode 2）, and one stable fast subsidence mode （mode 3）. Modes 1 and 2 mainly consist of a rotation about the horizontal longitudinal axis （x-axis） and a side translation; mode 3 mainly consists of a rotation about the x-axis and a rotation about the vertical axis. （ii） Approximate analytical expressions of the eigenvalues are derived, which give physical insight into the genesis of the natural modes of motion. （iii） For the unstable divergence mode, td, the time for initial disturbances to double, is about 9 times the wingbeat period （the longitudinal motion of the model insect was shown to be also unstable and td of the longitudinal unstable mode is about 14 times the wingbeat period）. Thus, although the flight is not dynamically stable, the instability does not grow very fast and the insect has enough time to control its wing motion to suppress the disturbances.

Control for going from hovering to small speed flight of a model insect

The longitudinal steady-state control for going from hovering to small speed flight of a model insect is studied, using the method of computational fluid dynamics to compute the aerodynamic derivatives and the techniques based on the linear theories of stability and control for determining the non-zero equilibrium points. Morphological and certain kinematical data of droneflies are used for the model insect. A change in the mean stroke angle （δФ） results in a horizontal forward or backward flight; a change in the stroke amplitude （δФ） or a equal change in the down- and upstroke angles of attack （δα1） results in a vertical climb or decent; a proper combination of δФ and δФ controls （or δФ and δα1 controls） can give a flight of any （small） speed in any desired direction.

Near wake vortex dynamics of a hovering hawkmoth

Numerical investigation of vortex dynamics in near wake of a hovering hawkmoth and hovering aerodynamics is conducted to support the development of a biology-inspired dynamic flight simulator for flapping wingbased micro air vehicles. Realistic wing-body morphologies and kinematics are adopted in the numerical simulations. The computed results show 3D mechanisms of vortical flow structures in hawkmoth-like hovering. A horseshoe-shaped primary vortex is observed to wrap around each wing during the early down- and upstroke; the horseshoe-shaped vortex subsequently grows into a doughnut-shaped vortex ring with an intense jet-flow present in its core, forming a downwash. The doughnut-shaped vortex rings of the wing pair eventu- ally break up into two circular vortex rings as they propagate downstream in the wake. The aerodynamic yawing and rolling torques are canceled out due to the symmetric wing kinematics even though the aerodynamic pitching torque shows significant variation with time. On the other hand, the time- varying the aerodynamics pitching torque could make the body a longitudinal oscillation over one flapping cycle.

Dynamic flight stability of hovering model insects:theory versus simulation using equations of motion coupled with Navier-Stokes equations

In the present paper, the longitudinal dynamic flight stability properties of two model insects are predicted by an approximate theory and computed by numerical sim- ulation. The theory is based on the averaged model （which assumes that the frequency of wingbeat is sufficiently higher than that of the body motion, so that the flapping wings＇ degrees of freedom relative to the body can be dropped and the wings can be replaced by wingbeat-cycle-average forces and moments）; the simulation solves the complete equations of motion coupled with the Navier-Stokes equations. Comparison between the theory and the simulation provides a test to the validity of the assumptions in the theory. One of the insects is a model dronefly which has relatively high wingbeat frequency （164 Hz） and the other is a model hawkmoth which has relatively low wingbeat frequency （26 Hz）. The results show that the averaged model is valid for the hawkmoth as well as for the dronefly. Since the wingbeat frequency of the hawkmoth is relatively low （the characteristic times of the natural modes of motion of the body divided by wingbeat period are relatively large） compared with many other insects, that the theory based on the averaged model is valid for the hawkmoth means that it could be valid for many insects.

Stabilization control of a hovering model insect:lateral motion

Our previous study shows that the lateral disturbance motion of a model drone fly does not have inherent stability （passive stability）,because of the existence of an unstable divergence mode.But drone flies are observed to fly stably.Constantly active control must be applied to stabilize the flight.In this study,we investigate the lateral stabilization control of the model drone fly.The method of computational fluid dynamics is used to compute the lateral control derivatives and the techniques of eigenvalue and eigenvector analysis and modal decomposition are used for solving the equations of motion.Controllability analysis shows that although inherently unstable,the lateral disturbance motion is controllable.By feeding back the state variables （i.e.lateral translation velocity,yaw rate,roll rate and roll angle,which can be measured by the sensory system of the insect） to produce anti-symmetrical changes in stroke amplitude and/or in angle of attack between the left and right wings,the motion can be stabilized,explaining why the drone flies can fly stably even if the flight is passively unstable.

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.

Lateral dynamic flight stability of hovering insects: theory vs. numerical simulation

In the present paper, the lateral dynamic flight stability properties of two hovering model insects are predicted by an approximate theory based on the averaged model, and computed by numerical simulation that solves the complete equations of motion coupled with the Naviertokes equations. Comparison between the theoretical and simulational results provides a test to the validity of the assumptions made in the theory. One of the insects is a model dronefly which has relatively high wingbeat frequency （164Hz） and the other is a model hawkmoth which has relatively low wingbeat frequency （26 Hz）. The following conclusion has been drawn. The theory based on the averaged model works well for the lateral motion of the dronefly. For the hawkmoth, relatively large quantitative differences exist between theory and simulation. This is because the lateral non-dimensional eigenvalues of the hawkmoth are not very small compared with the non-dimensional flapping frequency （the largest lateral non-dimensional eigenvalue is only about 10% smaller than the non-dimensional flapping frequency）. Nevertheless, the theory can still correctly predict variational trends of the dynamic properties of the hawkmoth＇s lateral motion.

Stabilization control of a bumblebee in hovering and forward flight

Our previous study shows that the hovering and forward flight of a bumblebee do not have inherent stability （passive stability）. But the bumblebees are observed to fly stably. Stabilization control must have been applied. In this study, we investigate the longitudinal stabilization control of the bumblebee. The method of computational fluid dynamics is used to compute the control derivatives and the techniques of eigenvalue and eigenvector analysis and modal decomposition are used for solving the equations of motion. Controllability analysis shows that at all flight speeds considered, although inherently unstable, the flight is controllable. By feedbacking the state variables, i.e. vertical and horizontal velocities, pitching rate and pitch angle （which can be measured by the sensory system of the insect）, to produce changes in stroke angle and angle of attack of the wings, the flight can be stabilized, explaining why the bumblebees can fly stably even if they are passively unstable.

Research on Aerodynamic Characteristics of Hovering Rotor Based on Leading Edge Droop

In view of the reduction of hovering efficiency near high tension when a helicopter rotor hovers,a numerical simulation method of lifting rotor hovering aerodynamic characteristics based on leading edge droop is established in this paper. It is dominated by Reynolds average N-S equation in integral form. Firstly,VR-12 airfoil is taken as the research object,and the influence of leading edge droop angle on the aerodynamic characteristics of two-dimensional airfoil is studied. Secondly,the modified 7 A rotor is taken as the research object,and the effects of different leading edge droop angles at the position of blade r/R=0.75—1 on the aerodynamic characteristics in hover are explored. It is found that the leading edge droop can significantly improve the aerodynamic characteristics of two-dimensional airfoil and three-dimensional hovering rotor near high angle of attack,and can effectively inhibit the generation of stall vortex.

A Study on Hovering Control of Small Aerial Robot by Sensing Existing Floor Features

Since precise self-position estimation is required for autonomous flight of aerial robots, there has been some studies on self-position estimation of indoor aerial robots. In this study, we tackle the self-position estimation problem by mounting a small downward-facing camera on the chassis of an aerial robot. We obtain robot position by sensing the features on the indoor floor.In this work, we used the vertex points(tile corners) where four tiles on a typical tiled floor connected, as an existing feature of the floor. Furthermore, a small lightweight microcontroller is mounted on the robot to perform image processing for the onboard camera. A lightweight image processing algorithm is developed. So, the real-time image processing could be performed by the microcontroller alone which leads to conduct on-board real time tile corner detection. Furthermore, same microcontroller performs control value calculation for flight commanding. The flight commands are implemented based on the detected tile corner information. The above mentioned all devices are mounted on an actual machine, and the effectiveness of the system was investigated.

Methods of spacecraft impulsive relative hovering and trajectory safety analysis

Based on the analytical solutions of T-H equations and its state transition matrix form,the open-loop control method of spacecraft impulsive relative hovering was studied,which is promising for practical engineering use.The true anomaly intervals of the hovering impulse were optimized by the nonlinear mathematical programming.Based on the calculation of collision probability,the method of safety analysis and risk management was proposed.The numerical simulations show that the introduced relative hovering method can be used for circular and elliptical reference orbits hovering.Furthermore,the local optimal solution can be obtained by applying the true anomaly intervals optimization method.The maximum collision probability and the minimum relative distance nearly appear at the same time.And,the smaller the relative distance is,the larger the collision probability.

High-Order Discontinuous Galerkin Method for Hovering Rotor Simulations Based on a Rotating Reference Frame

An implicit higher ? order discontinuous Galerkin(DG) spatial discretization for the compressible Euler equations in a rotating frame of reference is presented and applied to a rotor in hover using hexahedral grids. Instead of auxiliary methods like grid adaptation,higher ? order simulations(fourth ? and fifth ? order accuracy) are adopted.Rigorous numerical experiments are carefully designed,conducted and analyzed. The results show generally excellent consistence with references and vigorously demonstrate the higher?order DG method's better performance in loading distribution computations and tip vortex capturing, with much fewer degrees of freedom(DoF). Detailed investigations on the outer boundary conditions for hovering rotors are presented as well. A simple but effective speed smooth procedure is developed specially for the DG method. Further results reveal that the rarely used pressure restriction for outlet speed has a considerable advantage over the extensively adopted vertical speed restriction.

Robust Near-Hovering Flight Controller for Model-Scale Helicopters Via Parametric Approach

This paper aims to provide a parametric design for robust flight controller of the model-scale helicopter. The main contributions lie in two aspects. Firstly,under near-hovering condition,a procedure is presented for simplification of the highly nonlinear and under-actuated model of the model-scale helicopter. This nonlinear system is linearized around the trim values of the chosen flight mode,followed by decomposing this high-order linear model into three lower-order subsystems according to the coupling properties among channels.After decomposition,the three subsystems are obtained which include the coupling subsystem between the roll( pitch) motion and the lateral( longitudinal) motion,the subsystem of the yaw motion and the subsystem of the vertical motion. Secondly,by using eigenstructure assignment,the problem of flight controller design can be converted into solving two optimization problems and the linear robust controllers of these subsystems are designed through solving these optimization problems. Besides, this paper contrasts and analyzed the performances of the LQR controller and the parametric controller. The results demonstrate the effectiveness and the robustness against the parametric perturbations of the parametric controller.

Eagles Are Hovering at the Cradle of Love Songs

In the late autumn of 2007,the Southwest Branch of China Airlines sent offone A319 airbus,named B6238,to cross over Mt.Gongkya (7556 meters above sea level) and safely land at the Kangding Airport - which is acknowledged as the world's second highest airport.The success of the experimental flight ends the history of unavailabil- ity of civil airline flights in Garze Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan Province.It also marks the closure of the final preparation phase and readiness to move to the next stage-l...

倾转旋翼机悬停状态气动干扰分析

针对倾转旋翼机,开展了悬停状态气动干扰风洞试验和数值模拟研究。试验中,测量了悬停状态下的旋翼升力、扭矩以及半模机翼的气动力。同时,采用运动嵌套网格方法,通过求解N-S方程对机翼倾角0°和90°两种状态进行数值模拟,开展了数值模拟与风洞试验的相关性分析研究,验证了该数值模拟方法的有效性。结果表明:不考虑机身气动力时,孤立旋翼、机翼攻角0°和机翼攻角90°三种状态下旋翼气动特性差异不明显;考虑机身气动力时,机翼攻角0°时,机身产生约18.2%向下载荷,单片桨叶和机身出现强烈非定常气动特性,其中桨叶升力系数动态值与平均值比为9.8%,机身升力系数动态值与平均值比为18.38%。

一例赤大袋鼠梭菌性肠炎的诊断和病原分离鉴定

通过临床症状、尸体剖检、组织病理学、毒素实验和细菌分离鉴定的方法确诊了1例由A型产气荚膜梭菌(Clostridium perfringens)引起的赤大袋鼠(Macropus rufus)梭菌性肠炎的自然病例。动物园1只成年赤大袋鼠突然精神沉郁、厌食,于20 h后死亡,尸体角弓反张,腹围膨大。尸体剖检和组织学检查表明:胃肠道、肝脏和肾脏出现具有梭菌性肠炎证病意义的病变。小白鼠毒素实验结果显示,血样肠内容物内有急性致死性毒素。从出血的肠黏膜面分离到单一、有芽孢、粗大的革兰阳性杆菌,经产气荚膜梭菌毒素基因型多重PCR鉴定为A型产气荚膜梭菌。研究结果可为赤大袋鼠梭菌性肠炎的诊断和防控提供依据。

Environmental drivers of long-term variations in the abundance of the red hocicudo mouse (Oxymycterus rufus) in Pampas agroecosystems

During the 20th century,there has been an ongoing agricultural expansion and global warming,two of the main determinants influencing biodiversity changes in Argentina.The red hocicudo mouse(Oxymycterus rufus)inhabits subtropical grasslands and riparian habitats and has increased its abundance in recent years in central Argentina agroecosystems.This paper describes the long-term temporal changes in O.rufus abundance in Exaltación de la Cruz department,Buenos Aires province,Argentina,in relation to weatherfluctuations and landscape features,as well as analyzes the spatio-temporal structure of captures of animals.We used generalized liner models,semi-variograms,the Mantel test,and autocorrelation functions for the analysis of rodent data obtained from trappings conducted between 1984 and 2014.O.rufus showed an increase in abundance across the years of study,with its distribution depending on landscape features,such as habitat types and the distance tofloodplains.Capture rates showed a spatio-temporal aggregation,suggesting expansion from previously occupied sites.O.rufus was more abundant at lower minimum temperatures in summer,higher precipitation in spring and summer,and lower precip-itations in winter.Weather conditions affected O.rufus abundance,but there was local variation that differed from global patterns of climate change.

多约束月面盘旋飞跃轨迹优化控制方法

针对无平移发动机月球探测器的多约束盘旋飞跃问题,给出了燃耗最优轨迹。盘旋飞跃划分为垂直上升段、平移段、垂直下降段,垂直上升段与垂直下降段的最优控制均为Bang-Bang形式。研究平移段最优轨迹时,考虑位置、速度、角速度等约束,首次把优化问题的控制变量由推力转化为角速度,然后基于Pontryagin极小值原理得到了最优角速度的初步形式,接着通过对奇异点连续性、控制变量切换次数的研究,得到最优角速度的最终形式由最大边值与最小边值组成且发生两次切换,最后提供了一种求解切换点的数值方法。仿真结果表明,该算法精度高、复杂度低,适用于在线轨迹优化。

边墩沉降致连续简支桥段纵连线桥系统层间联结劣化规律

为研究边墩沉降致纵连板式无砟轨道-连续梁桥系统(纵连线桥系统)层间联结劣化状态,在考虑边墩沉降与层间接触不连续影响的基础上,建立纵连线桥系统非线性空间模型,采用前期提出的理论模型对其进行验证,据此分析边墩沉降下纵连线桥系统典型变形模式,层间联结失效的演化过程、发展规律及出现位置等。结果表明:建立的空间模型准确可靠;边墩沉降下,线桥系统会产生跟随变形、自重变形和悬停分离三种变形模式;沉降墩、与沉降墩临近的简支梁墩及连续梁桥另一侧边墩上方会出现层间联结失效,与沉降墩临近的简支梁墩、连续梁桥全部桥墩上的支座均会发生破坏;边墩沉降处板底脱空高度可用边墩沉降值减去连续梁桥变形限值进行描述;各脱空区长度均随边墩沉降幅值增加而增大,与沉降墩临近的简支梁墩左、右两侧区域脱空长度成正对称分布,连续梁另一边墩处脱空长度值只与连续梁变形有关,始终维持在2.56 m。