What question did this study set out to answer?

To simulate insect hover flight by coupling body equations of motion with fluid dynamics equations to examine the aerodynamic influence of periodic body oscillations.

October 3, 2009Journal of Experimental BiologyOpen Access

Hovering of model insects: simulation by coupling equations of motion with Navier–Stokes equations

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Authors

JWJiang WuCommercial Aircraft Corporation of China (China)YZYanlai ZhangNingxia Water Conservancy MSMao SunShandong University of Technology

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Implication

Computational simulation reveals that body oscillations increase aerodynamic power demands during insect hovering, suggesting these motions can be neglected in smaller species.

Key Points

To simulate insect hover flight by coupling body equations of motion with fluid dynamics equations to examine the aerodynamic influence of periodic body oscillations.
Coupled rigid-body equations of motion with the Navier–Stokes equations to model fluid flow around flapping wings and dynamic body interactions.
Used a numerical shooting method to compute periodic solutions for hover flight in two insect models: a dronefly (high wingbeat frequency, small wing-to-body mass ratio) and a hawkmoth (low wingbeat frequency, large wing-to-body mass ratio).
Body motion was primarily horizontal, with vertical oscillation measuring approximately one-sixth of horizontal motion; hawkmoth peak-to-peak horizontal displacement was 0.22 chord length (4 mm) versus 0.05 chord length (0.15 mm) in the dronefly.
Accounting for horizontal oscillation decreased relative wing velocity, requiring an angle of attack 3.5 deg higher and 9% greater specific aerodynamic power in the hawkmoth, compared to 0.7 deg higher and 2% greater power in the dronefly.
Horizontal oscillations scaled with wing mass to body mass ratio and the inverse of chord length times frequency squared (1/cn²), parameters that are small enough in most insects to justify neglecting body oscillations.

Cite This Study

Wu et al. (2009) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a840e78a47fb2e1cdb292a5 https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.030494

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Implication

Computational simulation reveals that body oscillations increase aerodynamic power demands during insect hovering, suggesting these motions can be neglected in smaller species.

Hovering of model insects: simulation by coupling equations of motion with Navier–Stokes equations

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Key Points

Cite This Study

Hovering of model insects: simulation by coupling equations of motion with Navier–Stokes equations

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Key Points

Cite This Study

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