Experimental And Numerical Investigations On The Performance Of Flexible Skin Flapping Wing For Micro Aerial Vehicle Application
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Date
2013-07
Authors
Yusoff, Hamid
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Universiti Sains Malaysia
Abstract
Flapping-wing micro air vehicles are small, hand-held flying vehicles that can maneuver in a constrained space because of its lightweight, low aspect ratio, and ability to fly in low Reynolds number environment. Flying mammals such as bats, and flying squirrels share a unique feature that allows them to fly with amazing agility and maneuverability unmatched by other flying animals of the same size. The unique feature that allows these animals to have such fight capabilities is their thin and flexible membrane wings. In this work, the unique characteristic features of flexible membrane wings associated with flying mammals such as bats are investigated for their highly efficient aerodynamic abilities. The primary goal of this study is to incorporate the mechanism involved in these flying mammals for improved aerodynamic performance of MAV’s. An Electronic Control System (ECS) was introduced to control a proper flapper wing mechanism to emulate the wing flapping of bats for the ongoing micro air vehicle (MAV) research. Besides, aerodynamic tests were carried out in an open-air wind chamber to investigate the aerodynamic characteristics, particularly the wing skin flexibility and camber effect. Furthermore, the optimization using response surface methodology (RSM) was carried out to investigate the interactive relationship of each factor and optimize the aerodynamic performance. In addition to this, three-dimensional numerical simulation was also accomplished on flat and camber wing using FLUENT software.
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Keywords
Flexible Skin Flapping Wing , Micro Aerial Vehicle Application