Tightly Coupled CFD/Multibody Analysis of Flapping-Wing Micro-Aerial Vehicles

Masarati, Pierangelo; Morandini, Marco; Quaranta, Giuseppe; Chandar, Dominic; RogetJayanarayanan, Beatrice

doi:10.2514/6.2011-3022

Cited by 13 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 28 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Most of the aeroelastic computational efforts in the literature make use of low-order aerodynamic models [10,11,12], and these models do not necessarily provide a good approximation of the unsteady flowfield. Recently, there have been limited number of studies performing coupled CFD-CSD aeroelastic analysis of flexible flapping wings [13,14,15]. These studies are performed using Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian (ALE) formulation of CFD.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nonlinear Aeroelastic Analysis of Highly Flexible Flapping Wings Using an ALE Formulation of Embedded Boundary Method

Lakshminarayan

Farhat

2014

52nd Aerospace Sciences Meeting

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Bio-inspired flapping wings have garnered a large amount of attention in achieving the goal of developing energy efficient highly maneuverable hover-capable Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs). Flapping wings are typically very flexible undergoing large deformations, leading to complex nonlinear interactions between aerodynamics and structure. Computational studies are critical to understanding this highly coupled non-linear Fluid Structure Interaction (FSI) problem and to explore the wide design parameter space for developing efficient and robust flapping wing MAVs. Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) methods for Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) are unfeasible to handle large structural motions and deformations that are seen in flapping wings. Eulerian Embedded Boundary Methods (EBMs) are particularly attractive in this situation. However, EBMs become expensive in viscous FSI problems, since they do not track the boundary layers around bodies because of their Eulerian nature. Recently, the current authors developed an ALE-embedded framework, in which the underlying non body-fitted mesh tracks structure and therefore providing significant computational savings. The focus of the current work is to apply this framework to study highly flexible flapping wings; the initial step being to carefully validate the methodology with an available experimental data. Three different wings of varying flexibility are simulated for a range of flapping frequencies. The calculations show good qualitative agreement with the experimental measurements in predicting the structural deformations as well as the generated thrust. The quantitative differences are primarily attributed to the uncertainties in the structural model. The results indicate that wing flexibility is beneficial for flapping wing aerodynamics, however excessive flexibility can be counter-productive. Flow visualization show the presence of stable leading edge vortex on moderately flexible wings; whereas no stable vortex is evident on highly flexible wing.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nonlinear Aeroelastic Analysis of Highly Flexible Flapping Wings Using an ALE Formulation of Embedded Boundary Method

Lakshminarayan

Farhat

2014

52nd Aerospace Sciences Meeting

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Moreover, a number of numerical investigations have been conducted to investigate the relevant physics between the flexible wing structures and complex aerodynamic environment [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23]. Chimakurthi et al [15,16] built a numerical framework to facilitate the FSI analysis of flexible flapping wings at various fidelity levels.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thus, sole usage of the shell elements requires significant discretization. Masarati et al [21] applied the nonlinear shell element for the flapping wing. In their approach, the multi-body concept was employed so that both beam and shell elements could be used for the vein and membrane at a time.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Combined co-rotational beam/shell elements for fluid–structure interaction analysis of insect-like flapping wing

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Flapping wing micro-air vehicles are biologically inspired by nature flyers, specifically insects and birds. Specifically, insect wings generally consist of veins and membrane components. In this study, a structural analysis considering the vein/membrane components of an insect-like flapping wing is presented. Co-rotational (CR) finite elements are adopted in order to consider the complex wing configuration including both vein and membrane. The CR beam ele-H. Cho BK21 Plus Transformative Training Program for Creative Mechanical and Aerospace Engineers, Institute of Advanced Machines and Design, ments with warping degrees of freedom are employed for veins and CR shell elements for the wing membrane. The present structural analysis is verified against the analytical results obtained by an existing software, and it is validated by comparison to existing results from the literature. A fluid-structure interaction analysis is then performed. In the procedure, an aerodynamic analysis based on three-dimensional preconditioned Navier-Stokes equations is employed. Finally, a comparative study with respect to the structural characteristics is conducted. As a result, an efficiency of the present structural analysis is confirmed by comparing with the existing software. It is found that the present FSI results are in good agreement with the existing experimental and numerical results. Moreover, the passive wing twist may have a significant influence on the hover performance.Keywords Co-rotational beam and shell analysis · Fluid-structure interaction · Insect-like flapping wing

show abstract

“…Simultaneously, numerical studies have been conducted to analyse and understand physical phenomena around the wing. Within this area of research, a variety of numerical methods have been developed (3,(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23) . Reviews of the related numerical studies can be found in Refs 24 and 25.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Their experiment and relevant findings became one of the representative benchmark examples for computational studies of flapping wings. Hence, Heathcote's experiment has been employed in numerous other computational studies (14,(16)(17)(18)(19) . In the following, some of those related to the spanwise flexibility of the wing are summarised.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Extensive 3D analysis for fluid–structure interaction of spanwise flexible plunging wing 3D FSI Analysis for Spanwise Flexible Plunging Wing

Cho

Lee²,

Shin

et al. 2019

Aeronaut. j.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In this study, an improved fluid–structure interaction (FSI) analysis method is developed for a flapping wing. A co-rotational (CR) shell element is developed for its structural analysis. Further, a relevant non-linear dynamic formulation is developed based on the CR framework. Three-dimensional preconditioned Navier–Stokes equations are employed for its fluid analysis. An implicit coupling scheme is employed to combine the structural and fluid analyses. An explicit investigation of a 3D plunging wing is conducted using this FSI analysis method. A further investigation of this plunging wing is performed in relation to its operating condition. In addition, the relation between the wing’s aerodynamic performance and plunging motion is investigated.

show abstract

Tightly Coupled CFD/Multibody Analysis of Flapping-Wing Micro-Aerial Vehicles

Cited by 13 publications

References 28 publications

Nonlinear Aeroelastic Analysis of Highly Flexible Flapping Wings Using an ALE Formulation of Embedded Boundary Method

Nonlinear Aeroelastic Analysis of Highly Flexible Flapping Wings Using an ALE Formulation of Embedded Boundary Method

Combined co-rotational beam/shell elements for fluid–structure interaction analysis of insect-like flapping wing

Extensive 3D analysis for fluid–structure interaction of spanwise flexible plunging wing 3D FSI Analysis for Spanwise Flexible Plunging Wing

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About