Abstract This study presents the development of a flapping-wing micro air vehicle (MAV) model inspired by the wing morphology of Papilio xuthus. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations are utilized to explore the influence of angle of attack and forward sweep angle on gliding performance, as well as the impact of forward sweep angle on flapping performance. The results demonstrate that:during gliding, the lift-to-drag ratio first rises and then falls within the investigated attack angle range; similarly, the lift-to-drag ratio under varying forward sweep angles exhibits a trend of rising followed by decline; during flapping, the average lift demonstrates a similar variation pattern with the increase of forward sweep angle. Optimal design parameters for the butterfly-inspired vehicle are thus obtained, providing references for achieving integrated flapping/gliding dual-mode flight.
Xu et al. (Mon,) studied this question.