1. Aerodynamics and dynamic stability of micro-air-vehicle with four flapping wings in hovering flight
- Author
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Cheng Cheng, Yanlai Zhang, Jianghao Wu, Han Li, and Chao Zhou
- Subjects
Wing root ,0209 industrial biotechnology ,Unsteady aerodynamics ,lcsh:Motor vehicles. Aeronautics. Astronautics ,Aerospace Engineering ,02 engineering and technology ,01 natural sciences ,010305 fluids & plasmas ,020901 industrial engineering & automation ,Control theory ,Wing kinematics ,0103 physical sciences ,Civil and Structural Engineering ,Physics ,Wing ,Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment ,Mechanical Engineering ,Lift (soaring) ,Aerodynamics ,Clap-and-fling effect ,Four-winged FMAV ,Dynamically stability ,lcsh:TA1-2040 ,Modeling and Simulation ,Flapping ,Micro air vehicle ,lcsh:TL1-4050 ,lcsh:Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General) - Abstract
Recently, a novel concept of flapping Micro-Air-Vehicles (FMAVs) with four wings has been proposed, which potentially utilizes the clap-and-fling effect for lift enhancement and agile maneuvers through an adjustment of wing kinematics. However, the application of the clap-and-fling effect in the four-winged FMAVs is underexplored and the dynamic stability is still unclear. In this paper, aerodynamics and flight dynamic stability of the four-winged FMAVs are studied experimentally and numerically. Results show that the clap-and-fling effect is observed when the flapping frequency is above 18 Hz. Due to the clap-and-fling effect, the lift generation and aerodynamic efficiency are both improved, which is mainly attributed to the fling phase. Further studies show that the clap-and-fling effect becomes weaker as the wing root spacing increases and is almost absent at a wing root spacing of 1.73 chord length. In addition, a wing with an aspect ratio of 3 can increase both lift generation and efficiency due to the clap-and-fling effect. Finally, according to the dynamic stability analysis of the four-winged FMAV, the divergence speed of the lateral oscillation mode is about 4 times faster than that of the longitudinal oscillation mode. Our results can provide guidance on the design and control of four-winged FMAVs.
- Published
- 2020