Vortex flow on a butterfly wing

摘要

Recently, a few studies on development of Micro-Air-Vehicle and micro flight robot have been attracting attentions. However, these robots have not been applied yet because flight mechanisms of butterfly and bird have not been understood sufficiently. In this study, in order to clarify a vortex flow structure on a butterfly wing, we have carried out flow visualization on a butterfly wing using the particle and a high-speed camera. The test butterfly is cynthia cardui and its diameter is 25 mm in wing chord length, 30 mm in wing span length, 254 mm2 in wing area and 160 mg in weight. Especially, we have discussed about the vortex flow developed on wing chord and span lengths.