Development and formation of wing cuticle based on transcriptomic analysis in Locusta migratoria during metamorphosis

Wings are an important flight organ of insects.Wing development is a complex process controlled by a series of genes.The flightless wing pad transforms into a mature wing with the function of migratory flight during the nymphto-adult metamorphosis.However,the mechanism of wing morphogenesis in locusts is still unclear.This study analyzed the microstructures of the locust wing pads at pre-eclosion and the wings after eclosion and performed the comparative transcriptome analysis.RNA-seq identified 25,334 unigenesand 3,430 differentially expressed genes(DEGs)(1,907 up-regulated and 1,523 down-regulated).The DEGs mainly included cuticle development(LmACPs),chitin metabolism(Lm Idgf4),lipid metabolism-related genes,cell adhesion(Integrin),zinc finger transcription factors(LmSalm,LmZF593 andLmZF521),and others.Functional analysis based on RNA interference and hematoxylin and eosin(H&E)staining showed that the three genes encoded zinc finger transcription factors are essential for forming wing cuticle and maintaining morphology in Locusta migratoria.Finally,the study found that the LmSalm regulates the expression of LmACPs in the wing pads at pre-eclosion,and LmZF593 and LmZF521 regulate the expression of LmIntegrin/LmIdgf4/LmHMT420 in the wings after eclosion.This study revealed that the molecular regulatory axis controls wing morphology in nymphal and adult stages of locusts,offering a theoretical basis for the study of wing development mechanisms in hemimetabolous insects.

模糊WINGS视角下的ANP加权矩阵新构造方法

构造因素集加权矩阵是ANP系统未加权超矩阵到加权超矩阵转化的一个关键技术。然而从已有的三种构造方法看,两两比较法比较机理混乱,而等权矩阵假设构造法通常是无效的,并且基于DEMATEL(决策试行与评价实验室)的构造方法不仅存在忽视因素集自身强度的内在不足,而且也难以反映专家在对因素集之间影响关系判断时存在的"不精确性"。为克服上述缺陷,提出一种模糊WINGS(加权影响情景下的非线性测度体系)视角下的ANP因素集加权矩阵新构造方法。该方法一方面给出改进后的模糊DELPHI决策程序,充分考虑了专家判断过程中的"不精确性"。另一方面,系统提出模糊WINGS的方法思路,在系统因素集影响关系判别时充分考虑了因素集的自我影响强度,使因素集直接影响矩阵的构造更为合理。实例对比验证结果表明,该方法是科学合理的,有着较强的实践应用可操作性。

Computational aerodynamics of low Reynolds number plunging,pitching and flexible wings for MAV applications

Micro air vehicles （MAV＇s） have the potential to revolutionize our sensing and information gathering capabilities in environmental monitoring and homeland security areas. Due to the MAV＇s＇ small size, flight regime, and modes of operation, significant scientific advancement will be needed to create this revolutionary capability. Aerodynamics, structural dynamics, and flight dynamics of natural flyers intersects with some of the richest problems in MAV＇s, inclu- ding massively unsteady three-dimensional separation, transition in boundary layers and shear layers, vortical flows and bluff body flows, unsteady flight environment, aeroelasticity, and nonlinear and adaptive control are just a few examples. A challenge is that the scaling of both fluid dynamics and structural dynamics between smaller natural flyer and practical flying hardware/lab experiment （larger dimension） is fundamentally difficult. In this paper, we offer an overview of the challenges and issues, along with sample results illustrating some of the efforts made from a computational modeling angle.

The effects of corrugation and wing planform on the aerodynamic force production of sweeping model insect wings

The effects of corrugation and wing planform （shape and aspect ratio） on the aerodynamic force production of model insect wings in sweeping （rotating after an initial start） motion at Reynolds number 200 and 3500 at angle of attack 40℃ are investigated, using the method of computational fluid dynamics. A representative wing corrugation is considered. Wing-shape and aspect ratio （AR） of ten representative insect wings are considered; they are the wings of fruit fly, cranefly, dronefly, hoverfly, ladybird, bumblebee, honeybee, lacewing （forewing）, hawkmoth and dragon- fly （forewing）, respectively （AR of these wings varies greatly, from 2.84 to 5.45）. The following facts are shown. （1） The corrugated and flat-plate wings produce approximately the same aerodynamic forces. This is because for a sweeping wing at large angle of attack, the length scale of the corrugation is much smaller than the size of the separated flow region or the size of the leading edge vortex （LEV）. （2） The variation in wing shape can have considerable effects on the aerodynamic force; but it has only minor effects on the force coefficients when the velocity at r2 （the radius of the second ：moment of wing area） is used as the reference velocity; i.e. the force coefficients are almost unaffected by the variation in wing shape. （3） The effects of AR are remarkably small： whenAR increases from 2.8 to 5.5, the force coefficients vary only slightly; flowfield results show that when AR is relatively large, the part of the LEV on the outer part of the wings sheds during the sweeping motion. As AR is increased, on one hand, the force coefficients will be increased due to the reduction of 3-dimensional flow effects; on the other hand, they will be decreased due to the shedding of part of the LEV; these two effects approximately cancel each other, resulting in only minor change of the force coefficients.

Aerodynamic Effects of Corrugation in Flapping Insect Wings in Forward Flight

We have examined the aerodynamic effects of corrugation in model wings that closely mimic the wing movements of a forward flight bumblebee using the method of computational fluid dynamics. Various corrugated wing models were tested （care was taken to ensure that the corrugation introduced zero camber）. Advance ratio ranging from 0 to 0.57 was considered. The results shown that at all flight speeds considered, the time courses of aerodynamic force of the corrugated wing are very close to those of the flat-plate wing. The cornlgation decreases aerodynamic force slightly. The changes in the mean location of center of pressure in the spanwise and chordwise directions resulting from the corrugation are no more than 3% of the wing chord length. The possible reason for the small aerodynamic effects of wing corrugation is that the wing operates at a large angle of attack and the flow is separated： the large angle of incidence dominates the corrugation in determining the flow around the wing, and for separated flow, the flow is much less sensitive to wing shape variation.

A simulation-based study on longitudinal gust response of flexible flapping wings

Winged animals such as insects are capable of flying and surviving in an unsteady and unpredictable aerial environment.They generate and control aerodynamic forces by flapping their flexible wings.While the dynamic shape changes of their flapping wings are known to enhance the efficiency of their flight,they can also affect the stability of a flapping wing flyer under unpredictable disturbances by responding to the sudden changes of aerodynamic forces on the wing.In order to test the hypothesis,the gust response of flexible flapping wings is investigated numerically with a specific focus on the passive maintenance of aerodynamic forces by the wing flexibility.The computational model is based on a dynamic flight simulator that can incorporate the realistic morphology,the kinematics,the structural dynamics,the aerodynamics and the fluid-structure interactions of a hovering hawkmoth.The longitudinal gusts are imposed against the tethered model of a hovering hawkmoth with flexible flapping wings.It is found that the aerodynamic forces on the flapping wings are affected by the gust,because of the increase or decrease in relative wingtip velocity or kinematic angle of attack.The passive shape change of flexible wings can,however,reduce the changes in the magnitude and direction of aerodynamic forces by the gusts from various directions,except for the downward gust.Such adaptive response of the flexible structure to stabilise the attitude can be classified into the mechanical feedback,which works passively with minimal delay,and is of great importance to the design of bio-inspired flapping wings for micro-air vehicles.

Wings Plus设备纺22 dtex/24 f细旦聚酯FDY工艺探讨

在熔体直纺装置上,采用Wings FDY Plus工艺,对22 dtex/24 f细旦聚酯全拉伸丝(FDY)的生产工艺进行了研究。通过对熔体输送温度、纺丝组件、喷丝板孔径、缓冷区、吹风冷却条件、上油条件、卷绕拉伸工艺等进行优化与控制,生产出性能优异的细旦FDY,纤维断裂强度≥4.68 cN/dtex、断裂强度CV值≤0.95%、条干不匀率≤0.63%,纤维染色效果好,无深浅丝、无条纹。

WINGS系统纺预取向丝的结构与性能稳定性分析

以WINGS(Winding Integrated Gadet Solution)纺丝系统和传统ACW(Advanced Craft Winde)r纺丝系统为研究对象,比较同一纺丝位不同丝饼间预取向丝(POY)在相同纺丝条件下的结晶度、双折射率、力学性能、沸水收缩率等的变化规律。研究发现,WINGS纺丝系统同一纺丝位不同丝饼间POY的双折射率、结晶度、断裂强度、断裂伸长率、初始模量及沸水收缩率各值的变化率(CV值)均低于传统ACW工艺生产的POY的值,表明WINGS纺丝系统制得的POY有更稳定的结构和性能。

Experimental investigations of the functional morphology of dragonfly wings

Nowadays, the importance of identifying the flight mechanisms of the dragonfly, as an inspiration for designing flapping wing vehicles, is well known. An experimental approach to understanding the complexities of insect wings as organs of flight could provide significant outcomes for design purposes. In this paper, a comprehensive investigation is carried out on the morphological and microstructural features of dragonfly wings. Scanning electron microscopy （SEM） and tensile testing are used to experimentally verify the functional roles of different parts of the wings. A number of SEM images of the elements of the wings, such as the nodus, leading edge, trailing edge, and vein sections, which play dominant roles in strengthening the whole structure, are presented. The results from the tensile tests indicate that the nodus might be the critical region of the wing that is subjected to high tensile stresses. Considering the patterns of the longitudinal corrugations of the wings obtained in this paper, it can be supposed that they increase the load-bearing capacity, giving the wings an ability to tolerate dynamic loading conditions. In addition, it is suggested that the longitudinal veins, along with the leading and trailing edges, are structural mechanisms that further improve fatigue resistance by providing higher fracture toughness, preventing crack propagation, and allowing the wings to sustain a significant amount of damage without loss of strength.

A Bio-Inspired Flapping-Wing Robot With Cambered Wings and Its Application in Autonomous Airdrop

Flapping-wing flight, as the distinctive flight method retained by natural flying creatures, contains profound aerodynamic principles and brings great inspirations and encouragements to drone developers. Though some ingenious flapping-wing robots have been designed during the past two decades, development and application of autonomous flapping-wing robots are less successful and still require further research. Here, we report the development of a servo-driven bird-like flapping-wing robot named USTBird-I and its application in autonomous airdrop.Inspired by birds, a camber structure and a dihedral angle adjustment mechanism are introduced into the airfoil design and motion control of the wings, respectively. Computational fluid dynamics simulations and actual flight tests show that this bionic design can significantly improve the gliding performance of the robot, which is beneficial to the execution of the airdrop mission.Finally, a vision-based airdrop experiment has been successfully implemented on USTBird-I, which is the first demonstration of a bird-like flapping-wing robot conducting an outdoor airdrop mission.

EXPERIMENTS AND ANALYSIS OF HYSTERESIS OF VORTEX BREAKDOWN OVER PITCHING-UP DELTA WINGS

An investigation of the hysteresis of vortex breakdown over pitching-up deltawings is presented. Based on experiments, there are two main reasons which can be usedto explain the hysteresis of vortex breakdown. One is the time or phase lag due to the ini-tial suPerPOsition of linearized small disturbance, which enlarges the range of the incidenceof keeping attached flow and postpones the initial incidence of vortex breakdown. Theother is the reduction of adverse pressure gradient due to the periphery centrifugal instabil-ity after the concentrated vortex has come into being, which is the key reason of hystere-sis of vortex breakdown- The structure of vortex over a pitching up delta wing can be di-vided into three layers, which is not a significant a1teration compared with that of vortexover a static delta wing.

Adaptive Sliding Mode BTT Autopilot for Cruise Missiles with Variable-Swept Wings

In this paper,an adaptive sliding mode method was proposed for BTT autopilot of cruise missiles with variable-swept wings. To realize the whole state feedback,the roll angle,normal overloads and angular rates were considered as state variables of the autopilot,and a parametric sliding mode controller was designed via feedback linearization. A novel parametric adaptation law was put forward to estimate the nonlinear timevarying parameter perturbations in real time based on Lyapunov stability theory. A sliding mode boundary layer theory was adopted to smooth the discontinuity of control variables and eliminate the control chattering. The simulation was presented for the roll angle and overload commands tracking in different configuration schemes. The results indicated that the controlled system has robust dynamic tracking performance in condition of the large-scale aerodynamic parametric variety resulted from variable-swept wings.

Golden Ratio-Based and Tapered Diptera Inspired Wings： Their Design and Fabrication Using Standard MEMS Technology

This work presents our understanding of insect wings, and the design and micromachining of artificial wings with golden ratio-based and tapered veins. The geometric anisotwpy of Leading Edge Veins （LEVs） selected by Diptera has a function able to evade impact. As a Diptera example, the elliptic hollow-LEVs of cranefly wings are mechanically and aerodynamically significant. In this paper, an artificial wing was designed to be a fractal structure by mimicking cranefly wings and incorporating cross-veins and discal cell. Standard technologies of Microelectromechanical Systems （MEMS） were employed to materialize the design using the selected material. One SU-8 wing sample, light and stiffenough to be comparable to fresh cranefly wings, was presented. The as-prepared SU-8 wings are faithful to real wings not only in weight and vein pattern, but also in flexural stiffness and mass distribution. Thus our method renders possible mimickine with good lidelity of natural wings with complex geometry and morphology.

Stiffness Distribution and Aeroelastic Performance Optimization of High-Aspect-Ratio Wings

The relationship between stiffness distribution and aeroelastic performance for a beam-frame model and a3-D model is investigated based on aeroelastic optimization of global stiffness design for high-aspect-ratio wings.The sensitivity information of wing spanwise stiffness distribution with respect to the twist angle at wing tip,the vertical displacement at wing tip,and the flutter speed are obtained using a sensitivity method for both models.Then the relationship between stiffness distribution and aeroelastic performance is summarized to guide the design procedure.By using the genetic/sensitivity-based hybrid algorithm,an optimal solution satisfying the strength,aeroelastic and manufacturing constraints is obtained.It is found that the summarized guidance is well consistent with the optimal solution,thus providing a valuable design advice with efficiency.The study also shows that the aeroelastic-optimization-based global stiffness design procedure can obtain the optimal solution under multiple constraints with high efficiency and precision,thereby having a strong application value in engineering.

Modeling and Numerical Simulation of Wings Effect on Turbulent Flow between two contra-rotating cylinders

Many industries in the world take part in the pollution of the environment. This pollution often comes from the reactions of combustion. To optimize these reactions and to minimize pollution, turbulence is a funda- mental tool. Several factors are at the origin of turbulence in the complex flows, among these factors, we can quote the effect of wings in the rotating flows. The interest of this work is to model and to simulate numeri- cally the effect of wings on the level of turbulence in the flow between two contra-rotating cylinders. We have fixed on these two cylinders eight wings uniformly distributed and we have varied the height of the wings to have six values from 2 mm to 20 mm by maintaining the same Reynolds number of rotation. The numerical tool is based on a statistical model in a point using the closing of the second order of the transport equations of the Reynolds stresses (Reynolds Stress Model: RSM). We have modelled wings effect on the flow by a source term added to the equation tangential speed. The results of the numerical simulation showed that all the average and fluctuating variables are affected the value of the kinetic energy of turbulence as those of Reynolds stresses increase with the height of the wings.

Biocompatibility and biosafety of butterfly wings for the clinical use of tissue-engineered nerve grafts

In a previous study, we used natural butterfly wings as a cell growth matrix for tissue engineering materials and found that the surface of different butterfly wings had different ultramicrostructures, which can affect the qualitative growth of cells and regulate cell growth, metabolism, and gene expression. However, the biocompatibility and biosafety of butterfly wings must be studied. In this study, we found that Sprague-Dawley rat dorsal root ganglion neurons could grow along the structural stripes of butterfly wings, and Schwann cells could normally attach to and proliferate on different species of butterfly wings. The biocompatibility and biosafety of butterfly wings were further examined through subcutaneous implantation in Sprague-Dawley rats, intraperitoneal injection in Institute of Cancer Research mice, intradermal injection in rabbits, and external application to guinea pigs. Our results showed that butterfly wings did not induce toxicity, and all examined animals exhibited normal behaviors and no symptoms, such as erythema or edema. These findings suggested that butterfly wings possess excellent biocompatibility and biosafety and can be used as a type of tissue engineering material. This study was approved by the Experimental Animal Ethics Committee of Jiangsu Province of China(approval No. 20190303-18) on March 3, 2019.

用于聚酯POY生产的WINGS

Oerlikon Barmag在2007年ITMA国际纺织博览会上以提出的用于化纤装置的全新理念,首次做了名符其实的成功展示。在ITMA2007上展示的新型POY纺丝机的WINGS(卷绕集成导辊的方案),在2008年卖出了1600多次。采用WINGS的几种装置在印度和中国同时成功投产。WINGS已占有全球市场份额的50%以上。

Structural design and modal behaviors analysis of a new swept baffled inflatable wing

Inflatable wing has significant application value in the design of loitering munitions because of its advantages such as lightweight and foldability.However,due to the flexible characteristics,aeroelastic behaviors of inflatable wings such as flutter are nonnegligible in flight.By designing a certain angle between the inflatable beam and the wing span,the structural dynamic and even the aeroelastic performance of the inflatable wing can be effectively improved.Based on the analysis of the mechanical and geometric characteristics of the inflatable structure,a new inflatable wing with sweep arranged inflatable beams is proposed,and the main design variables and methods are analyzed.For purpose of investigating the aeroelastic performance of the swept baffled inflatable wing,the modal behaviors by considering the wet mode are studied.In consideration of the deficiencies of the traditional wet modal analysis method,by introducing the influence on the additional stiffness of flow field,an added massstiffness method is proposed in this paper,and the advantages are verified by ground vibration experiments.On this basis,the effects of baffles sweep angle,pressure,and boundary conditions on the modal parameters and aeroelastic performance of inflatable wing are analyzed.The results show that the aeroelastic performance of the inflatable wing can be designed by changing the baffles sweep angle,which is enlightened for the aeroelastic tailoring design on inflatable wings.

Measurement on Camber Deformation of Wings of Free-flying Dragonflies and Beating-flying Dragonflies

The knowledge of wing orientation and deformation during flapping flight is necessary for a complete aerodynamic analysis, but to date those kinematic features have not been simultaneously quantified for free-flying insects. A projected comb-fringe (PCF) method has been developed for measuring spanwise camber changes on free-flying dragonflies and on beating-flying dragonflies through the course of a wingbeat, which bases on projecting a fringe pattern over the whole measurement area and then measuring the wing deformation from the distorted fringe pattern. Experimental results demonstrate substantial camber changes both along the wingspan and through the course of a wingbeat. The ratio of camber deformation to chord length for hind wing is up to 0.11 at 75% spanwise with a flapping angle of -0.66 degree for a free-flying dragonfly.

EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION ABOUT THE UNSTEADY AERODYNAMIC CHARACTERISTICS OF WINGS

The technical programme and measurement system of experimental investigation of unsteady dynamic characteristics are introduced. The unsteady lift characteristics of a delta wing with leading edge sweep angle 60°are investigated when the wing is rapidly pitching up at incidence from 0°until 90°.The experimental results are that the maximum lift coefficient and stall incidence are increased with increased pitch-up rate. when the wing is rapidly pitching up. The infuences of reduced frequency. average incidence, the oscillating amplitude and pitch axis location on the unsteady instantaneous force produced by oscillating wings are investigated too.