Analysis of thrust production in small synthetic flapping wings

Kelvin Chang, Jason Rue, Peter Ifju, Raphael Haftka, Tony Schmitz, Chris Tyler, Anirban Chaudhuri, Vasishta Ganguly

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

For flapping micro air vehicles, geometrical parameters such as size, aspect ratio as well as structural topology can affect thrust production in hover mode. Synthetic wings similar in size to that of a humming bird's were manufactured with the hope of understanding these affects. The experimental method for measuring thrust and the manufacturing process used to make the wings have seen improvement from previous work such that there is less scatter and uncertainty; this allows for smaller variations in thrust to be detected. With confidence in the fabrication and testing procedure, an optimization problem was attempted where three design parameters were chosen as variables and the objective was to maximize thrust. These efforts were coupled with noncontact imaging techniques like digital image correlation and laser doppler velocimetry to help extract the characteristics that are consistent with wings that produce considerable thrust. The results of these tests will help to obtain the relationships between the consciously selected geometric parameters and the thrust produced. It was found that by machining the synthetic wings from acetal resin sheet and pairing that skeleton with a carbon fiber rod less variation was present. This wing construction was found to have a quick production time, making an experimental optimization feasible.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationResidual Stress, Thermomechanics and Infrared Imaging, Hybrid Techniques and Inverse Problems, - Proceedings of the 2013 Annual Conference on Experimental and Applied Mechanics
Pages1-8
Number of pages8
DOIs
StatePublished - 2014
Externally publishedYes
Event2013 Annual Conference on Experimental and Applied Mechanics - Lombard, IL, United States
Duration: Jun 3 2013Jun 5 2013

Publication series

NameConference Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Mechanics Series
Volume8
ISSN (Print)2191-5644
ISSN (Electronic)2191-5652

Conference

Conference2013 Annual Conference on Experimental and Applied Mechanics
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityLombard, IL
Period06/3/1306/5/13

Keywords

  • DIC
  • Flapping
  • LDV
  • MAV
  • Thrust

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