Optimization of a flexible low Reynolds number airfoil

Fluid mechanics of flapping wings

“…Aeroelastic scaling including mass (density)/length, spar stiffness (elastic storage and modulation of stiffness through muscle tension), articulation-dependent effects and the use of baffins (radial to give correct twist) determines the ratio of inertial force response to aerodynamic force response as well as the gust-induced structural response of wings [10,11].…”

Biomechanics of the Bat Limb Skeleton: Scaling, Material Properties and Mechanics

“…10 6 ), the effects of viscosity are not negligible, as they are for even the smallest airplanes. In this Re range, flow over foils can be turbulent, unsteady and unpredictable, and basic parameters, such as wing aspect ratio, angle of attack, camber, etc., can influence flow patterns and aerodynamic forces in dramatically different ways than in higher Re flows [Smith and Shyy, 1996;Shyy et al, 1999a, b;Levin and Shyy, 2001;Lian et al, 2003]. Because wing structure and flight behavior differ fundamentally between bats and other flying animals, the mechanics and aerodynamics of bat flight cannot be extrapolated from studies on birds or insects, and experimental analysis, physical modeling and numerical simulation of bat flight will have distinctive characteristics.…”

Experimental investigations on biologically inspired airfoils for MAV applications

“…The experiments were performed in a closed-circuit low-speed team of the annual MAV competitions for the last three years, knowing that their design is one of the best existing MAV airfoils designs [34,35]. The cross section design from University of Florida MAV team was created by the two-dimensional code called XFOIL, which was developed by Mark Drela at MIT [36][37][38]. The primary goal of the computational scheme was to accurately predict laminar and turbulent separated flows in order to precisely model laminar separation bubble behavior [36,39].…”