Beetle wing folding facilitated by micro-protrusions on the body surface: a case of Allomyrina dichotoma

Biological world always provides inspirations for engineering designs, and insects are important targets to mimic. For the Coleoptera, its flight has been emphasized for long. However, the invisible folding procedure of hind wings, which occurs under the stiff elytra after flight, still remains unknown. In this paper, the wing folding process and the surficial microstructures of elytra, hind wing and abdomen are investigated by video recording and scanning electron microscopy. The results show that there are hooklike protrusions approximately 15 μm in length distributing on the inner side of elytra, and bump-like protrusions on the hind wings. The ＇hooks＇ may anchor the ＇bumps＇ on the main wing to prevent corrugation during folding. The horizontal protrusions observed on the abdomen shape a hairy cuticle, which is conducive to a better wing-abdomen interaction. Thus, the ratcheting mechanism that wing folding facilitated by micro-protrusions on the body surface is revealed. This new finding helps us to further understand the functions of diversely shaped protrusions in the physiology of insects. More importantly, the ratcheting mechanism could serve as a cuticle interaction model and inspire new engineering applications, such as microsystems.

Correction method of airfoil thickness effect in hinge moment calculation of a folding wing

The influences of airfoil thickness on the aerodynamic loading distribution and the hinge moments of folding wing aircraft are presented in this work.The traditional panel method shows deficiencies in the calculation of folding wing's hinge moments.Thus, a thickness correction strategy for the aerodynamic model with CFD results is proposed, and an aeroelastic flight simulation platform is constructed based on the secondary development of ADAMS.Based on the platform,the developed aerodynamic model is verified, then the flight-folding process of the folding wing aircraft is simulated, and the influences of airfoil thickness on the results are investigated.Results show that the developed aerodynamic model can effectively describe the thickness effect of the folding wing.Airfoil thickness, which cannot be considered by the panel method, has a great influence on the hinge moments during the folding process, and the thickness correction has great significance in the calculation of folding wing's hinge moments.

Nonlinear flutter wind tunnel test and numerical analysis of folding fins with freeplay nonlinearities

The flutter characteristics of folding control fins with freeplay are investigated by numer- ical simulation and flutter wind tunnel tests. Based on the characteristics of the structures, fins with different freeplay angles are designed. For a 0° angle of attack, wind tunnel tests of these fins are conducted, and vibration is observed by accelerometers and a high-speed camera. By the expansion of the connected relationships, the governing equations of fit for the nonlinear aeroelastic analysis are established by the free-interface component mode synthesis method. Based on the results of the wind tunnel tests, the flutter characteristics of fins with different freeplay angles are analyzed. The results show that the vibration divergent speed is increased, and the divergent speed is higher than the flutter speed of the nominal linear system. The vibration divergent speed is increased along with an increase in the freeplay angle. The developed free-interface component mode synthesis method could be used to establish governing equations and to analyze the characteristics of nonlinear aeroe- lastic systems. The results of the numerical simulations and the wind tunnel tests indicate the same trends and critical velocities.