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Passive hovering of a flexible $\unicode[STIX]{x039B}$-flyer in a vertically oscillating airflow

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 September 2019

Xiang Zhang ,
Guowei He Open the ORCID record for Guowei He [Opens in a new window] ,
Shizhao Wang Open the ORCID record for Shizhao Wang [Opens in a new window]  and
Xing Zhang Open the ORCID record for Xing Zhang [Opens in a new window]
Xiang Zhang
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Nonlinear Mechanics, Institute of Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, PR China School of Engineering Science, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, PR China
Guowei He
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Nonlinear Mechanics, Institute of Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, PR China School of Engineering Science, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, PR China
Shizhao Wang
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Nonlinear Mechanics, Institute of Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, PR China School of Engineering Science, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, PR China
Xing Zhang*
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Nonlinear Mechanics, Institute of Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, PR China School of Engineering Science, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, PR China
*
†Email address for correspondence: zhangx@lnm.imech.ac.cn
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Abstract

We numerically investigate the passive flight of a flexible $\unicode[STIX]{x039B}$-flyer in a vertically oscillating airflow with zero mean stream. The flexibility of the flyer is introduced by a torsion spring installed at the hinged joint. We study the effects of spring stiffness, density, resting angle and actuation efforts on the hovering performance. The results suggest that the occurrence of resonance in flexible flyers can result in significantly different performances in flexible and rigid flyers. It is found that flexibility can have two opposing effects, reducing or increasing the actuation efforts for hovering, depending on the range of driving frequency. This result is explained by the modulation of relative motion between the flyer and the imposed background flow due to the involvement of passive angular oscillation. The angular oscillation patterns, the wake symmetry properties and the postural stability behaviours under different driving conditions are also explored. Based on the findings of the present study, the ideal parameter values for stable hovering are suggested. The results of this study offer novel insight into the mechanism by which the flexibility of the flyer affects the passive hovering performance.

JFM classification

Biological Fluid Dynamics: Swimming/flying Vortex Flows: Vortex shedding
Type
JFM Papers
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 878 , 10 November 2019 , pp. 113 - 146
Copyright
© 2019 Cambridge University Press 

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