Particle Image Velocimetry Study on Insect based Mechanical Flapping Wing in Hover
Summer Internship, 2016
Guide : Dr. T. Murugan, CSIR-CMERI, Durgapur
Most of the techniques we humans use derive their origin from the nature. Aviation is an exception, we have our very own technique of flying, completely different from what the birds do. What we do is try to conquer the sky, we will win when we learn to romance it. We are yet to find the most efficient method of flying, according to me flapping it is. ‘Flapping wing intelligent UAVs’ one of the most exciting gifts our generation can give the world. Difficult but possible & at the same time exciting.
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Intrigued by the concept of flapping wing aerodynamics we decided to investigate the flow physics arond a hovering insect's flapping wing through PIV (Particle Image Velocimetry) test on a mechanical flapping wing.
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We designed and fabricated a mechanism to replicate insect wing kinematics in hover. Then we conducted PIV tests on the mechanism for varied frequencies at varied wing phase locations at three spanwise locations and obtained the velocity vectors around the wing.
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We are currently studying the obtained flow fields to draw inferences that would help us to better understand the unsteady aerodynamics over a flapping wing.
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You can access the manuscript here .
(Note: Since we are still studying the flowfields, the manuscript is likely to be updated)
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Experimental Setup
Fabricated Mechanism