Acta Mech Sinica (2005) 21: 411418 DOI 10.

1007/s10409-005-0064-4

R E S E A R C H PA P E R

Jianghao Wu Mao Sun

The inuence of the wake of a apping wing on the production of aerodynamic forces

Received: 15 October 2004 / Accepted: 10 March 2005 / Revised: 24 February 2005 / Published online: 26 October 2005 Springer-Verlag 2005

Abstract The effect of the wake of previous strokes on the aerodynamic forces of a apping model insect wing is studied using the method of computational uid dynamics. The wake effect is isolated by comparing the forces and ows of the starting stroke (when the wake has not developed) with those of a later stroke (when the wake has developed). The following has been shown. (1) The wake effect may increase or decrease the lift and drag at the beginning of a half-stroke (downstroke or upstroke), depending on the wing kinematics at stroke reversal. The reason for this is that at the beginning of the half-stroke, the wing impinges on the spanwise vorticity generated by the wing during stroke reversal and the distribution of the vorticity is sensitive to the wing kinematics at stroke reversal. (2) The wake effect decreases the lift and increases the drag in the rest part of the half-stroke. This is because the wing moves in a downwash eld induced by previous half-strokes starting vortex, tip vortices and attached leading edge vortex (these vortices form a downwash producing vortex ring). (3) The wake effect decreases the mean lift by 6%18% (depending on wing kinematics at stroke reversal) and slightly increases the mean drag. Therefore, it is detrimental to the aerodynamic performance of the apping wing. Keywords Insect Flapping Unsteady aerodynamics Wing/wake interaction CFD analysis 1 Introduction The vortex wake of a apping wing of a hovering insect is near the wing and might inuence the aerodynamic force
The project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (10232010) and the National Aeronautic Science Fund of China(03A51049) The English text was polished by Xing Zhang J.H. Wu M. Sun (B) Ministry-of-Education Key Laboratory of Fluid Mechanics, Institute of Fluid Mechanics, Beihang University, Beijing 100083, China E-mail: m.sun@263.net

production. Dickinson [1] conducted force measurement experiment on a two-dimensional wing to study this effect. The motion of the wing consisted of two translations of opposite direction separated by a rapid rotation, simulating the motion of two consecutive half-strokes of an insect wing (half-stroke: a downstroke or an upstroke). It was shown that when the wing was at a large angle of attack and translated 57 chord lengths in the rst translation, the aerodynamic forces in the subsequent translation could be greatly enhanced. He suggested that the enhancement of the forces was because the wing translated through a vortex pair (similar to a vortex pair in the Karman vortex street) generated by the previous translation and hence had a larger effective velocity. This lift enhancing mechanism was termed wakecapture mechanism. Sun and Hamdani [2] studied an airfoil performing similar motion using the method of computational uid mechanics (CFD), which could provide both the aerodynamic forces and the ow elds. They conrmed that the vortex pair left by the rst translation induced a wind, which increased the effective velocity, hence the aerodynamic forces of the airfoil in the subsequent translation. The above work was for two-dimensional (2D) wings (airfoils). Dickinson et al. [3] conducted force measurement experiment on a apping three-dimensional (3D) wing (model fruit y wing). They found that large force peaks occurred in the beginning and near the end of each half-stroke. They explained the large force peaks at the beginning of the halfstroke by the wake-capture mechanism. Sun and Tang [4] performed CFD simulations for the kinematics similar to those in Dickinson et al. [3]. By varying the acceleration of the wing at the beginning of the half-strokes, they showed that the force peaks were closely related to the rapid acceleration of the wing. By comparing the forces in the starting halfstroke (no wake effect) with those in the later half-strokes (with wake effect), they found that the wake effect on the force peaks was negligibly small. They suggested that the force peaks at the beginning of the half-stroke were due to the effects of the rapid acceleration of the wing, rather than due to the wake-capture mechanism.

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Recently, Birch and Dickinson [5] conducted further experiments for the model fruit y wing in which forces in the starting strokes and later strokes were measured. By comparing the forces in the rst stroke and those in the fourth stroke, they concluded that although the force peaks at the beginning of the half-strokes were due to the rapid acceleration, they were augmented by the wake effect. In Ref. [5], only one case of wing kinematics was considered. The wake effect on the forces at the beginning of a half-stroke might be sensitive to the variation of wing kinematics at stroke reversal. Both Sun and Tang [4] and Birch and Dickinson [5] mainly discussed the forces at the beginning of the half-stroke. However, when studying the wake capturing mechanism, forces in the rest part of the half-stroke and more importantly, the mean forces over the whole halfstroke should be considered. The present study addresses these questions by simulating the ows of a model insect wing in apping motion using the CFD method. The wake effect is isolated by comparing the forces of the starting halfstroke, when the wake has not developed, with those of a later half-stroke, when the wake has developed. 2 Methods The planform of the model wing used (Fig. 1) is the same as that in Ref. [3]. The apping motion consists of translation and rotation of the wing. The translational speed ut takes a constant value of Um except at the beginning and near the end of a stroke. During the acceleration at the beginning of a stroke, ut is given by
+ u+ = Um sin[( 0 )/ t ], t 0 0 + ( t /2),

(1)

where = ut /U (U = 2 nr2 , , n and r2 are the stroke amplitude, stroke frequency and the radius of the second + moment of wing area, respectively), Um = Um /U , = tU/c (t is dimensional time and c is the mean chord length of the wing), 0 is the non-dimensional time at which the stroke starts and 0 + ( t /2) the time at which the acceleration at the beginning of the stroke nishes. t is the duration of deceleration/acceleration around stroke reversal. Near the + end of the stroke, the wing decelerates from Um to 0 accord+ ing to a function similar to that in Eq.(1). Um can be determined when t is specied. When t is small (in Ref.

u+ t

[5], t = 0.18c where c is the non-dimensional apping period), u+ varies according to a trapezoidal function. When t t is 0.5c , ut would vary according to the simple harmonic function. Data in many insects [6,7] show that in normal free ight, ut is close to the simple harmonic function; in maneuvering ight, the trapezoidal form of ut may be used by some insects [3]. In the present study, both these functions will be considered. The geometric angle of attack of the wing assumes a constant value m except at the start or near the end of a stroke. Around the stroke reversal, the rotation velocity () is given by: + = {1 cos[2( + rt 0 )/ r ]}, 0 rt (0 rt + r ), (2) + where = c/U , is the mean non-dimensional veloc ity of rotation, rt is a non-dimensional time interval that decides when the rotation starts (rotation timing), r is the non-dimensional time interval over which the rotation lasts. When m and r are specied, can be determined. In the apping motion described above, c , t , m , r and rt need to be specied. Since U = 2 nr2 , c = U/cn is related to by c = 2 r2 /c. In the present study, following Refs. [35], is set as 150 (thus c is determined) and m is set as 40 . As for t , r and rt , which determine the kinematic conditions at stroke reversal, various values will be given to study their effects. The governing equations of the ow are the three-dimensional incompressible unsteady Navier-Stokes equations. In non-dimensional form, the equations contain only one nondimensional parameter, Re (dened as Re = cU/, where is the kinematic viscosity of the uid). Following Refs. [3 5], Re is set as 100. The numerical method used to solve the equations has been described elsewhere [4]. The lift L and drag D coefcients are dened as: CL = L/0.5U 2 S and CD = D/0.5U 2 S, respectively ( is the uid density and S is the wing area). The code was tested by measured unsteady aerodynamic forces on a apping model fruit y wing [8] and on a revolving model bumblebee wing [9]. In general, the agreement between the computational and experimental aerodynamic forces was good. Thus we think that the present CFD method can calculate the unsteady aerodynamic forces and ows of the model insect wing with reasonable accuracy. The effects of the grid density, the time step and computational-domain size on the computed solutions have been considered. It has been concluded that a grid with dimensions 109 93 78 (around the wing section, in the normal direction and in the spanwise direction, respectively) and fareld boundary at 20c from the wing, and a time step value of = 0.02, are appropriate for the present study. 3 Results 3.1 The time histories of the aerodynamic force coefcients

Fig. 1 The wing planform used

First, we consider a case (named case 1), with the following conditions: t = 0.18c , r = 0.24c and rt = r /2

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Table 1 Wing kinematic parameters Case 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 t /c 0.18 0.24 0.36 0.18 0.18 0.5 0.5 0.5 r /c 0.24 0.24 0.24 0.12 0.24 0.2 0.2 0.2 rt r /2 r /2 r /2 r /2 r /6 0 r /3 r /2

Fig. 2 The time histories of the wing motion and the lift and drag coefcients (case 1: t = 0.18c , r = 0.24c , rt = 0.12c )

(advanced rotation), which are approximately the same as those used in Birch and Dickinsons experiment [5]. Figure 2 shows the time histories of the force coefcients of the rst half-stroke and the fth half-stroke. The difference between the two half-strokes reveals the wake effect. For easy descrip tion, we dene a non-dimensional time, t , such that t = 0 is the start of a half-stroke and t = 0.5 is the end of the half stroke. At the beginning of the half-stroke (t 0 0.1), the wake effect increases the CL and CD peaks by 22% and 36%, respectively, compared with those of the starting halfstroke. This is similar to the results obtained by Birch and Dickinson [5]. Next, we vary the wing kinematics at stroke reversal. The variation of the kinematic parameters is summarized in Table 1. In cases 2 and 3, the wing deceleration/acceleration time t is varied from that in case 1. Figure 3 gives the

Fig. 3 The time histories of the wing motion and the lift and drag coefcients (case 3: t = 0.36c , r = 0.24c , rt = 0.12c )

results for case 3 (results for case 2 are not very different from those of case 1 and are not shown). In case 4, the wing rotation duration r is varied from that in case 1; Figure 4 gives the results for this case. In case 5, the rotation timing is varied from that in case 1; Figure 5 gives the results for this case.

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Fig. 4 The time histories of the wing motion and the lift and drag coefcients (case 4: t = 0.18c , r = 0.12c , rt = 0.06c )

Fig. 5 The time histories of the wing motion and the lift and drag coefcients (case 5: t = 0.18c , r = 0.24c , rt = 0.04c )

In the above cases, t is relatively small (between 0.12c and 0.36c ) and ut varies according to a trapezoidal function with large acceleration at stroke reversal. In the following cases (cases 68), t is increased to 0.5c and ut varies according to the simple harmonic function. In these cases, the rotation timing ( rt ) is varied. The results for cases 6 and 8 are given in Figs. 6 and 7, respectively (results for case 7 are not very different from those of case 8 and are not shown). As seen in Fig. 2, CL (in cases 1) at the beginning of the half-stroke is increased by the wake effect. In other cases (Figs. 37), CL is decreased or almost unchanged by the wake effect. These results show that the wake effect on CL at the beginning of the half-stroke is sensitive to the variation of the wing kinematics at stroke reversal. In all cases (Figs. 2 7), CL in the rest part of the half-stroke is decreased by the

wake effect. As to CD , the wake effect is in general small, except for a few cases (cases 1 and 4; Figs. 2 and 4) in which the wake effect on CD at the beginning of the half-stroke is relatively large. In order to see why the wake effect on the forces in the beginning of the half-stroke (t 0 0.1) is sensitive to the variation of the wing kinematics at stroke reversal, the spanwise vorticity in a section plane at half-wing-length at the start of the half-stroke is plotted in Fig. 8. It is seen that for each case, large vorticity is presented near the wing, which is produced by the rotation and the translational deceleration of the wing at the end of the previous half-stroke. The wing impinges on this vorticity eld at the beginning of the half-stroke. For different stroke-reversal kinematics, this vorticity eld (Fig. 8) and hence the forces on the wing are different. This approximately explains why the wake effect

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Fig. 6 The time histories of the wing motion and the lift and drag coefcients (case 6: t = 0.5c , r = 0.2c , rt = 0.0)

Fig. 7 The time histories of the wing motion and the lift and drag coefcients (case 8: t = 0.5c , r = 0.2c , rt = 0.1c )

on the forces at the beginning of the half-stroke is sensitive to the variation of the wing kinematics at stroke reversal. In order to see why CL in the rest part of the half-stroke (t 0.1 0.5) is decreased by the wake effect, the absolute velocity vectors, projected in a section plane at half-winglength shortly after the start of the half-stroke, are plotted in Fig. 9. At this point, the wing has just started to move and the ow velocity shown in Fig. 9 is mainly produced by the vortex wake of the previous half-stroke, which consists of the starting vortex, the tip vortices and the leading edge vortex (LEV) of the wing. Since the LEV does not shed, the starting vortex, the tip vortices and the LEV form a vortex ring that is approximately in the stroke plane [10]. This vortex ring causes the downwash velocity. When the wing moves in the downwash eld produced by the previous half-stroke, its CL is decreased. This approximately explains the above CL behavior.

3.2 The mean force coefcients The insect weight is supported by the mean lift and the energy expenditure is related to the mean drag. Therefore, in studying the wake effect, it is of importance to examine the mean lift (CL ) and drag (CD ) coefcients. CL and CD of the rst half L,NW and CD,NW , stroke (no wake effect) are denoted by C L and CD of the fth half-stroke (with respectively and C wake effect) are denoted by CL,W and CD,W , respectively. Their values for the eight cases are given in Table 2. Let CL,W = (CL,W CL,NW )/CL,NW and CD,W = (CD,W CD,NW )/CD,NW ; CL,W and CD,W represent the changes due to the wake effect. Their values are also given in Table 2. For all cases, CL,W is smaller than CL,NW , and CD,W is D,NW (except for case 8 where CD,W is a little larger than C smaller than CD,NW ). We see that although in some cases CL at the beginning of a half-stroke is increased by the wake

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Fig. 8 Spanwise vorticity plots at half-wing-length at the beginning of the fth half-stroke (the magnitude of the non-dimensional vorticity at the outer line is 1)

effect, CL is decreased by the wake effect. For the cases studied, CL is decreased by 6%18% (depending on wing kinematics at stroke reversal) and CD is slightly increased by the wake effect. These results show that the wake effect is detrimental to the aerodynamic performance of the apping wing. Therefore, the wake capturing mechanism, as a high lift mechanism, is not applied to the case of a apping wing. A physical explanation for this is as follows. The apping wing produces a mean lift coefcient close to that needed to support the insect weight. In producing an upward force, a downward ow must be generated. Thus the wing would

generally move in the downwash velocity eld generated by the previous half-stroke, reducing its effective angle of attack, hence the lift. References [1] and [2] give a physical explanation for why the wake effect can enhance the lift in 2D case. During the rst translation, when the airfoil (at angle of attack) moves by about 2.5 chord lengths after the initial start, its LEV (also called dynamic stall vortex) sheds. The shed LEV and the starting vortex from the trail edge form a vortex pair similar to a vortex pair in the Karman vortex street, which produces a horizontal jet. In the second translation (which is in a direction opposite to the rst), the airfoil moved through the

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Fig. 9 Plot of absolute velocity vector projected in a section at half-wing-length at t = 0.06 of the fth half-stroke (the horizontal arrow represents the reference velocity)

jet (see Figs. 15 and 16 of Ref. [2]), increasing its effective velocity, hence its lift, for the period of moving through the jet. By contrast, in the case of a apping wing, the LEV does not shed during the translational phase of a half-stroke,

and therefore, in the translational phase of the following halfstroke, there is not such a lift-enhancing effect as that in the 2D case. Instead, as mentioned above, in the case of a apping wing, the LEV (which is attached to the wing), the tip

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Table 2 Mean force coefcients Case 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 CL,NW 1.55 1.64 1.82 1.83 1.76 2.01 2.02 1.87 CL,W 1.46 1.53 1.66 1.62 1.46 1.78 1.71 1.53 CL,W 6% 7% 9% 11% 17% 11% 15% 18% CD,NW 2.25 2.32 2.39 2.23 1.95 2.30 2.14 1.84 CD,W 2.47 2.52 2.54 2.42 1.99 2.40 2.18 1.76 CD,W 10% 9% 6% 9% 2% 4% 2% 4%

(3) The wake effect decreases the mean lift by 6%18% (depending on wing kinematics at stroke reversal) and slightly increases the mean drag. Therefore, it is detrimental to the aerodynamic performance of the apping wing.

References
1. Dickinson, M.H.: The effects of wing rotation on unsteady aerodynamic performance at low Reynolds numbers. J. Exp. Biol. 192, 179206 (1994) 2. Sun, M., Hossein, H.: A study on the mechanism of high-lift generation by an airfoil in unsteady motion at low Reynolds number. Acta Mechanica Sinica 17, 97114 (2001) 3. Dickinson, M.H., Lehman, F.O., Sane, S.P.: Wing rotation and the aerodynamic basis of insect ight. Science 284, 19541960 (1999) 4. Sun, M., Tang, J.: Unsteady aerodynamic force generation by a model fruit y wing in apping motion. J. Exp. Biol. 205, 5570 (2002) 5. Birch, J.M., Dickinson, M.H.: The Inuence of wing-wake interactions on the production of aerodynamic forces in apping ight. J. Exp. Biol. 206, 22572272 (2003) 6. Ellington, C.P.: The aerodynamics of hovering insect ight. III. Kinematics. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B 305, 4178 (2003) 7. Fry, S.N., Sayaman, R., Dickinson, M.H.: The aerodynamics of free-ight maneuvers in drosophila. Science 300, 495498 (2003) 8. Sun, M., Wu, J.H.: Aerodynamic force generation and power requirements in forward ight in a fruit y with modeled wing motion. J. Exp. Biol. 206, 30653083 (2003) 9. Wu, J.H., Sun, M.: Unsteady aerodynamic forces of a apping wing. J. of Exp. Biol. 207, 11371150 (2004) 10. Sun, M., Wu, J.H.: Large aerodynamic force generation by a sweeping wing at low Reynolds numbers. Acta Mechanica Sinica 20, 2431 (2004)

vortices and the starting vortex form a vortex ring that produces a downward jet. This downward jet decreases the lift of the wing in the following half-stroke. 4 Conclusions (1) The wake effect may increase or decrease the lift and drag at the beginning of a half-stroke (downstroke or upstroke), depending on the wing kinematics at stroke reversal. The reason for this is that at the beginning of the half-stroke, the wing impinges on the spanwise vorticity generated by the distribution of the vorticity is sensitive to the wing kinematics at stroke reversal. (2) The wake effect decreases the lift and increases the drag in the rest part of the half-stroke. This is because the wing moves in a downwash eld induced by previous halfstrokes starting vortex, tip vortices and attached leading edge vortex (these vortices form a downwash producing vortex ring).