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

• Published in: Journal of bionics engineering Vol. 1; no. 1; pp. 41 - 45
• Main Authors: Song, Deqiang, Zeng, Lijiang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: State Key Laboratory of Precision Measurement Technology and Instruments, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, P.R. China 01.03.2004; 9500 Gilman Dr. 0409, University of California, San Diego, 92093, CA, USA%State Key Laboratory of Precision Measurement Technology and Instruments, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, P.R. China
• Subjects: insect flight; wing orientation; wing camber; fringe pattern projection; free flight
• ISSN: 1672-6529; 2543-2141
• DOI: 10.1007/BF03399452

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.