Effect of Wing Deformation and Flexibility on the Aerodynamics of Insect Flight

0828147军用扑翼飞行，其灵活的翅膀可以扭曲、弯曲和变形，这是动物空中运动的标志，但事实证明，在具有人类设计的翅膀的微型飞行器(MAV)中实现生物水平的空中性能是难以实现的。该研究将以蝴蝶为模型，研究翅膀的变形和弹性对昆虫的空气动力学和飞行特性的影响，以研究翅膀的变形和柔性对昆虫飞行空气动力学的影响。蝴蝶是一种大型昆虫，翅膀高度变形，表现出各种飞行行为，因此是这项研究的良好模型。这项拟议的研究有三个主要组成部分。第一种是昆虫飞行研究，使用高速、高分辨率的数字视频测量技术来提取蝴蝶在自由飞行中详细的翅膀和身体运动学、运动和加速度。第二部分是蝴蝶翼结构的参数化和与计算流体力学解算器耦合的验证翼有限元模型的开发。最后，对蝴蝶飞行进行了计算建模和分析，包括水平飞行和爬升飞行、飞行动作以及机翼的主动和被动变形分析。这项研究将极大地促进我们对与昆虫翅膀变形和灵活性相关的微妙空气动力学效应的理解，这些效应迄今尚未得到解决。PI还希望通过与生物学研究的紧密协调，使用高保真计算建模来推进这些复杂流动的计算建模，以提取对扑动飞行的基本见解。与昆虫飞行研究和结构参数化有关的研究的很大一部分将由本科生进行。这些学生将有机会在一个多学科团队中工作，解决生物学、流体力学、结构动力学、实验测试和计算建模方面的问题。昆虫飞行这个话题很容易引起各级学生的兴趣，国际和平研究所将利用这一主题与哥伦比亚特区的地区磁铁高中和学校开展年度外展活动。

0828147 MittalFlapping flight with flexible wings that twist, bend and morph is a hallmark of aerial locomotion in animals, but achieving biological levels of aerial performance in micro-aerial vehicles (MAVs) with human-designed wings has proven elusive. The PIs will study the role of wing deformation and flexibility on the aerodynamics and flight characteristics of insects using butterflies as the insect models to study the impact of wing deformation and flexibility on insect flight aerodynamics. Butterflies are large insects with highly deformable wings that show a variety of flight behaviors and as such, are good models for this study. The proposed research has three main components. The first is Insect flight studies using high-speed, high resolution digital videogrammetry techniques to extract the detailed wing and body kinematics, motions and accelerations of butterflies in free flight. The second is parameterization of butterfly wing structure and development of validated wing finite-element models coupled to a computational fluid dynamics solver. Finally, computational modeling and analysis of butterfly flight including analysis of level and climbing flight, flight maneuvers as well as active and passive deformation of the wings are planned. This study will significantly advance our understanding of subtle aerodynamic effects related to wing deformation and flexibility in insects that are not addressed to date. The PIs also expect to advance computational modeling of these complex flows using high fidelity computational modeling in tight coordination with biological investigations to extract fundamental insight into flapping flight. A significant portion of the research relating to insect flight studies and structural parameterization will be carried out by undergraduate students. These students will have a chance to work in a multidisciplinary team addressing issues in biology, fluid mechanics, structural dynamics, experimental testing and computational modeling. The topic of insect flight is one that easily catches the interest of students of all levels, and the PIs will leverage this to conduct annual outreach activities with area magnet high schools and schools in the District of Columbia.