Multibody-Dynamics Approach to Study the Deformation and Aerodynamics of an Insect Wing

Abstract

In this study, a multibody-dynamics simulation approach was developed for a hawkmoth flexible wing. The wing structure is modeled as a chain of rigid bodies connected by elastic springs, and the aerodynamic force is measured by the extended unsteady vortex-lattice method. The multibody-dynamics and aerodynamic solvers are combined by an implicit coupling approach, and the quasi-Newtonian method is adopted to solve the system of nonlinear differential equations of motion. For validation, numerical results were compared with measurement data from a robotic wing and a living insect. A parametric analysis was conducted to study the effects of several kinematic parameters on the deformation and aerodynamic performance of the wing in hover. In most cases, using a flexible wing is far more efficient in terms of force production in comparison with its rigid counterpart. In general, wing deformation may cause considerable differences between the wing-tip and wing-base kinematic parameters. In particular, elevation motion as observed in living insects may be due to the passive oscillations of elastic elements, as opposed to a deliberate motion.