Numerical investigation of the aerodynamic characteristics of a hovering Coleopteran insect.

The aerodynamic characteristics of the Coleopteran beetle species Epilachna quadricollis, a species with flexible hind wings and stiff elytra (fore wings), are investigated in terms of hovering flight. The flapping wing kinematics of the Coleopteran insect are modeled through experimental observations with a digital high-speed camera and curve fitting from an ideal harmonic kinematics model. This model numerically simulates flight by estimating a cross section of the wing as a two-dimensional elliptical plane. There is currently no detailed study on the role of the elytron or how the elytron-hind wing interaction affects aerodynamic performance. In the case of hovering flight, the relatively small vertical or horizontal forces generated by the elytron suggest that the elytron makes no significant contribution to aerodynamic force.

Experimental and numerical studies of beetle-inspired flapping wing in hovering flight.

In this paper, we measure unsteady forces and visualize 3D vortices around a beetle-like flapping wing model in hovering flight by experiment and numerical simulation. The measurement of unsteady forces and flow patterns around the wing were conducted using a dynamically scaled wing model in the mineral-oil tank. The wing kinematics were directly derived from the experiment of a real beetle. The 3D flow structures of the flapping wing were captured by using air bubble visualization while forces were measured by a sensor attached at the wing base. In comparison, the size and topology of spiral leading edge vortex, trailing edge vortex and tip vortex are well matched from experimental and numerical studies. In addition, the time history of forces calculated from numerical simulation is also similar to that from theforce measurement. A difference of average force is in order of 10 percent. The results indicate that the leading edge vortex due to rotational acceleration at the end of the stroke during flapping wing causes significant reduction of lift. The present study provides useful information on hover flight to develop a beetle-like flapping wing Micro Air Vehicle.

Morphological effect of a scallop shell on a flapping-type tidal stream generator.

Inspired by nature, flapping-type tidal stream generators have been introduced in recent years. The improvement in their power generation ability is known to be a critical factor in the success of these generators. So far, corrugation and camber observed in flying insects and swimming animals are known to enhance the performance of a flapping-type propulsive system. In this study, we explore the effect of corrugation and camber in a system that mimics a scallop shell in terms of its ability to extract flow energy through a two-dimensional Navier-Stokes simulation. The simulations show that the size and the activity of the leading edge vortex are strongly affected by the morphological factors of the mimicked foils, the effects of which are then advantageous in terms of the power efficiency of the flapping-type tidal stream generator. Eventually, an optimal mimicked foil, as suggested based on the morphological effects, would be a good alternative type of foil with a typical section with regard to the hydrodynamic performance and structural properties of tidal stream generators.

Improvement of the aerodynamic performance by wing flexibility and elytra--hind wing interaction of a beetle during forward flight.

In this work, the aerodynamic performance of beetle wing in free-forward flight was explored by a three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFDs) simulation with measured wing kinematics. It is shown from the CFD results that twist and camber variation, which represent the wing flexibility, are most important when determining the aerodynamic performance. Twisting wing significantly increased the mean lift and camber variation enhanced the mean thrust while the required power was lower than the case when neither was considered. Thus, in a comparison of the power economy among rigid, twisting and flexible models, the flexible model showed the best performance. When the positive effect of wing interaction was added to that of wing flexibility, we found that the elytron created enough lift to support its weight, and the total lift (48.4 mN) generated from the simulation exceeded the gravity force of the beetle (47.5 mN) during forward flight.