An experiment and theoretical analysis of the real form enlarged flapping wing model for the elucidation of flapping-wing flight about mosquito

摘要

The purpose of this research is to elucidate the mechanism of lift generation in flapping flight of a mosquito. In this study, tenfold enlarged realistic model of the flapping wing was used to simulate the flow pattern around mosquito's wing. Experiments were conducted using a very low speed wind tunnel to coincide the condition of Reynolds and Strouhal numbers with those of real mosquito. The flow field around the wing model was visualized using smoke and laser light sheet and was analyzed by a 2D or 3D-PIV system. In these experiments, we observed a unsteady ring vortex around model wings. The magnitude and direction of the jet flow induced by the ring vortex were greatly influenced by the attack angle. It was found that the lift was generated in the down stroke and the thrust in the up stroke.