NUMERICAL STUDY ON THE EFFECT OF KINEMATICS OF A FLAPPING WING ON ITS AERODYNAMIC PERFORMANCE

The kinematics of flapping wings has strong influence on their aerodynamic performance. However, most previous studies focus on wings under specific flapping kinematics. In this paper, the effects of kinematics of a forward flight wing on its aerodynamic performance were studied. Three types of flapping kinematics with identical quasi-steady aerodynamic forces were considered, and the flow fields of the wings were obtained by solving the N-S equation using the finite volume method. Results showed that wings with simple harmonic translation and rotation displacement presented enhanced lifting and propulsive efficiency. By examining the flow field of different kinematic wings, similar patterns of vortex were observed in the wake with different strength, which led to different aerodynamic performance of the wings.