The aim of this paper is to investigate the effect of wing kinematics change on force generation produced by flapping wings.

    Design/methodology/approach

    Forces produced by flapping wings are measured using a load cell and compared for the investigation. The measured forces are validated by estimation using an unsteady blade element theory.

    Findings

    From the measurement and estimation, the authors found that flapping wings produced positive and negative lifts when the wings are attached with the +30° and −30°, respectively.

    Research limitations/implications

    The authors quantified the characteristics of change in the force generation by flapping wings for three wing kinematics. The wing kinematics was modified by changing the initial wing attachment angle.

    Practical implications

    The result may be applicable to design of control mechanism for an insect-mimicking flapping-wing micro air vehicle, which has only wings without control surfaces at its tail.

    Social implications

    The preliminary work may provide an insight for design strategy of flapping-wing micro air vehicles with compact and handy configurations, because they may perform controlled flight even without control surfaces at their tails.

    Originality/value

    The work included here is the first attempt to quantify the force generation characteristics for different wing kinematics. The suggested way of wing kinematics change can provide a concept for control mechanism of a flapping-wing micro air vehicle.


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    Title :

    Effect of flapping-wing kinematics on force generation


    Contributors:


    Publication date :

    2013-07-26


    Size :

    11 pages




    Type of media :

    Article (Journal)


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English





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