Basic Design Strategy for Stiffness Distribution on a Dragonfly-Mimicking Wing for a Flapping Micro Aerial Vehicle

• Published in: Advanced robotics Vol. 24; no. 5-6; pp. 861 - 877
• Main Authors: Hamamoto, Masaki, Ohta, Yoshiji, Hara, Keita, Hisada, Toshiaki
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis Group 01.01.2010
• Subjects: Aerials; Airflow; BIOMIMETICS; Deformation; Drag (hindrance); FINITE ELEMENT METHOD; Flapping; FLAPPING FLIGHT; FLUID-STRUCTURE INTERACTION; Mathematical models; Stiffness; UNSTEADY AERODYNAMICS; Vehicles
• ISSN: 0169-1864; 1568-5535
• DOI: 10.1163/016918610X493642

A basic configuration of a flexible wing is derived from that of a real dragonfly. To realize the development of a flapping micro aerial vehicle, it is essential to study real insects' flight. In particular, the sophisticated structure of the wing contains many helpful hints for the solution of the efficiency. However, to solve the fluid-structure interaction problem between wing deformation and the surrounding airflow has been quite difficult, and the study of the ultimately light wing has been inhibited. We analyzed this problem using a novel numerical simulation - finite element analysis based on the arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian method, which can treat the interactive behavior accurately. A comparison of wing deformations and surrounding airflows for 13 wing models, actuated in the same way as is hovering by a real dragonfly and having one-third to 23 times the Young's modulus of a real dragonfly wing, indicated that the real wing positioned on the lower border of the zone where the flight efficiency was sustained. It was also observed that the wingtip area, the attitude of which plays a dominant role in determining the efficiency, was mainly supported by the structural stiffness of a shallow groove that crosses the wing diagonally.