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J4 ›› 2015, Vol. 12 ›› Issue (4): 539-554.doi: 10.1016/S1672-6529(14)60144-X

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Effect of Wing Kinematics Modulation on Aerodynamic Force Generation in Hovering Insect-mimicking Flapping-wing Micro Air Vehicle

Hoang Vu Phan1,2,3, Quang Tri Truong4, Thi Kim Loan Au1,2,3, Hoon Cheol Park1,2,3   

  1. 1. Artificial Muscle Research Center, Konkuk University, Seoul 143-701, South Korea
    2. National Research Laboratory for Biomimetics and Intelligent Microsystems, Konkuk University, Seoul 143-701, South Korea
    3. Department of Advanced Technology Fusion, Konkuk University, Seoul 143-701, South Korea
    4. Laboratory of Applied Mechanics, Faculty of Applied Science, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, Ho Chi Minh 740-128, Vietnam
  • Received:2015-01-02 Revised:2015-09-02 Online:2015-10-10 Published:2015-10-10
  • Contact: Hoon Cheol Park E-mail:hcpark@konkuk.ac.kr
  • About author:Hoang Vu Phan1,2,3, Quang Tri Truong4, Thi Kim Loan Au1,2,3, Hoon Cheol Park1,2,3

Abstract:

We investigated the effect of wing kinematics modulation, which was achieved by adjusting the location of trailing-edge constraint at the wing-root, i.e., by adjusting the wing-root offset, on the generation of aerodynamic forces in a hovering in-sect-mimicking Flapping-Wing Micro Air Vehicle (FW-MAV) by numerical and experimental studies. Three-dimensional wing kinematics measured using three synchronized high-speed cameras revealed a clear difference in the wing rotation angle of a wing section for different wing-root offsets. The extrapolated wing kinematics were in good agreement with the measured ones for various wing-root offsets. The Unsteady Blade Element Theory (UBET) was used to estimate the forces generated by the flapping wings and validated by comparison with results of measurements performed using a load cell. Although the thrust produced by a flapping wing with a wing-root offset of 0.20  was about 4% less, its force-to-input-power ratio was about 30% and 10% higher than those with the offsets of 0.10 and 0.15 , respectively. This result could be explained by analyzing the effective Angle of Attack (AoA) and the force components computed by the UBET. Thus, a flapping wing with a wing-root offset of 0.20  can be regarded as an optimal twist configuration for the development of the FW-MAV.

Key words: wing kinematics, flapping-wing MAV, biomimetics, beetle-mimicking, insect flight, linear extrapolation