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Special Study Course

Advanced Biomotion:
Life in Moving Fluids
ESM 5984, CRN: 18723

LEV to the wake of hovering hummingbirds (20). The


the start vortex, and a trail of positive vorticity
EV was There is increasing
TEV minus
between this start vortex and the trailing edge.awareness
the LEV nondimensional and appreciation of biological
circulation
(Fig. 2). is 1.4, resulting in a non-LEV lift coefficient of
Because the tip of the wing travels a larger
effective organisms as rich sources for mimicry
2.8 (22). This value is also higher than conven-
distance during the downstroke than does the and inspiration in
4.0 m/s)
circula-
engineering design.
tional quasi–steady-state wing models at similar
wing root, the start vortex is located further
This course provides a fundamental
conditions (26), suggesting that other unsteady lift
behind the wing near the wingtip (Fig. 1C) than
that the
wingtip
understanding of how
mechanisms
near the wing root (Fig. 1A). This pattern of mayanimals
also be involved,move
such as rota- through air and water,
tional circulation (3) and delayed stall (15), result-
vorticity shedding is strikingly similar to that of
ructures
ming that
focusing on kinematics,
a hawkmoth (30). GTEV was determined at dif-
ing in high lift due to mechanisms
a high angle of attack.
To obtain an image of the three-dimensional
ferent span locations (Fig. 2), but no systematic
of force production,
n circu- and the enabling wakeanatomy
structure, near-wake
variation was found. The average nondimensional and physiology.
cross-stream DPIV We will study a
ing (1), GTEV is 2.4 (Fig. 3), for an effective lift coefficient
measurements were performed for two bats (Fig.
LEV is range of motions 1E). The including
of 4.8 (22), which is beyond that considered to active
vorticity field and velocity vectors flight in birds, bats,
ient by show the presence of a tip vortex with negative
be the maximum possible for quasi–steady-state
average insects; gliding vorticity
flight(clockwise
wings (2) at the same Re and aspect ratio (26), in lizards, snakes,
spin) and a weaker vortex squirrels, and fish;
(Fig. 3), near the wing root (root vortex) with positive
but is similar to results from previous studies of
and swimming in fish,
vorticity
bats (19) and within the possible range of mammals,
(counterclockwise spin). The andaverage jellyfish. Additionally,
g wing,
we will examinetip-
pitching and heaving plates (31). and root-vortex circulation were nondimen-
animals at the boundary who are able to
Downloaded from www.sciencemag.org on October 15, 2009

ng edge sionalized using the mean wing chord length ( c)


As mentioned above, the nondimensional
!
GLEV ≈ 1, which means that the LEV contributes
y can be
and we
locomote across liquid surfaces, and will consider animal-
and the average effective wing velocity (U )
to more than 40% of the total lift (GLEV/GTEV =
determined from kinematic measurements (22).
eff

V). Ac-
culation
inspired robotics.
The average
0.42) (22). This value is similar to LEV con- Attip-vortex
its circulation
root, has
strength as G , and the average G
tributions reported for insects [hawkmoth, up to TEV
this is a course about how
a similar
is 65% LEV
nd circu-
l lift co-
animals produceBased
65% (13, 14), and fruit fly ≈ 45% (3)] but is
of the and
root-vortex
considerably higher than the 15% estimated from
respond to fluidic forces to propel
circulation (Fig. 3).
on the qualitative and quantitative
The shed themselves through air aand
data, we suggest cartoon water, exploring how nature has
model of the vortex
C, as a system around the bat wing during the down-
counter- solved problemsstrokeof(Fig.movement
4). At the beginning to of theproduce
down- a diverse array of
g, called stroke, a start vortex is formed at the trailing
locomotor stylesedgethat match form and
of the wing. During the downstroke, this function.
vortex travels downward and backward because
of self-convection, creating a trail of vorticity be-
tween the start vortex and the trailing edge of the
Tuesday/Thursday 3:30-4:45, 121 Randolph
wing. In inviscid vortex dynamics, a line vortex
must terminate either as a closed loop or at a solid
surface, and so the start vortex connects to two tip
Requirements: Fluids course background is helpful, but not
and two root vortices, which grow in length
during the downstroke. The tip and root vortices
required. This is a multi-disciplinary course, and graduate students across engineering,
are connected to the wing and to the LEV. The
start vortices of each wing are probably con-
science and mathematics are welcome. nected to each other behind the body (19). Be-
cause the LEV circulation strength is similar to
the root-vortex circulation, these are probably
connected, hence the absence of a LEV across
Instructor:
Fig. 3. Mean ± SD for circulations in different
parts of the wake structure during the downstroke the body. The near wake of slow-flying bats did
not show a separately shed LEV (19), suggest-
Dr. Jake Socha, ESM
when the wing is horizontal, at a forward speed of
1 m/s._ The _circulation was nondimensionalized ing that the LEV stays attached throughout the
downstroke and merges with the stop vortex.
jjsocha@vt.edu! !
using c and Ueff ( fig. S5). For the LEV and TEV, n =
119 observations; for the tip and root vortex, n =
! !
For hovering and slow-flying insects, three dif- ! !
98 observations (22). ferent types of LEV systems have been proposed

Fig. 4. Cartoon of the


primary vortex structure
for a bat during the down-
stroke when the wing is
horizontal, at a forward
speed of 1 m/s. The struc-
ture consists of two closed
loops, one for each wing,
bottom) consisting of a LEV on top
ats._ The of the wing, connected to
g c and a start vortex shed in the
onds rep- wake via a tip vortex (Tip)
triangles and a root vortex (Root). The color coding indicates the absolute value of local circulation; yellow is low
circulation and red is high circulation.

FEBRUARY 2008 VOL 319 SCIENCE www.sciencemag.org

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