Hovering Hinge-Connected Flapping Plate with Passive Deflection

摘要

IT IS undoubtedly important to understand the aerodynamics of flexible wings of insects and birds to improve micro air vehicle (MAV) design. The flexibility mechanism and its effects on aerodynamic performance are not fully understood yet and still attract a lot of attention, ranging from chordwise flexibility [1,2], to spanwise flexibility [3]. It is also worthy to note the study on propulsion properties of flexible flapping wing by Yang et al. [4], in which flow and body interaction are handled by a strong-coupling approach. However, why there is remarkable diversity of wing rigidity and flexibility across insect taxa and how the animals passively or actively control their wing flexibility to obtain aerodynamically favorable kinematics at various phases of flapping are still mysteries.