Bio-inspired design of flapping wing micro air vehicles - An engineer's perspective

Abstract

In this paper the decade of numerical and experimental investigations leading up to the development of the authors' unique flapping-wing micro air vehicle is summarized. Early investigations included the study of boundary layer energization by means of a small flapping foil embedded in a flat-plate boundary layer, the reduction of the recirculatory flow region behind a backward-facing step by means of a small flapping foil, and the reduction or suppression of flow separation behind blunt or cusped airfoil trailing edges by flapping a small foil located in the wake flow region. These studies were followed by systematic investigations of the aerodynamic characteristics of single flapping airfoils and airfoil combinations. These unsteady flows were described using flow visualization, laser-Doppler velocimetry and panel and Navier-Stokes computations. It is then shown how this flapping-wing database was used to conceive, design and develop a micro air vehicle which has a fixed wing for lift and two flapping wings for thrust generation. While the design appears to separate lift and thrust, in fact, the performance of one surface is closely coupled to the other surfaces.