HIGH-FIDELITY MODELING AND PHYSICS OF BIO-INSPIRED MORPHING AND FLAPPING WINGS

Bio-inspired morphing and flapping wings have the potential to produce superior aerodynamic performance through the flexibility effect. The emerging engineering requirements and the fundamental understanding of biological flight have motivated the development of a high-fidelity three-dimensional flexible multibody aeroelastic modeling framework and the exploration of the role of flexibility in coupled dynamics. To predict the fully-coupled fluid-flexible multibody structure system, a partitioned body-fitted formulation based on the coupling of an incompressible unsteady viscous fluid solver and a flexible multibody structure solver is developed. To explore the role of flexibility in fluid-membrane interaction involving aeroelastic mode selection, flow-induced vibration and mode transition associated with flow-excited instability, flexible membranes immersed in unsteady flows over a wide range of parameter space are examined. Three-dimensional flapping wings with varying flexibility and trailing edge shapes are simulated to understand thrust generation and drag-thrust transition from the perspective of unsteady momentum transfer and added mass effect.

Author dc:creator

• LI GUOJUN

• fluid-structure interaction, morphing wing, flapping wing, mode decomposition, flexibility, flow-induced vibration