A study on forces acting on a flapping wing

Istanbul Technical University, Faculty of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Turkey

^a e-mail: fenercio@itu.edu.tr

Abstract

In order to study the forces acting on a flapping wing, an experimental investigation is performed in steady water flow. In this study, a SD7003 airfoil undergoes combined pitching and plunging motion which simulates the forward flight of small birds. The frequency of pitching motion is equal to the frequency of plunging motion and pitch leads the plunge by a phase angle of 90 degrees. The experiments are conducted at Reynolds numbers of 2500 ≤ Re ≤ 13700 and the vortex formation is recorded using the digital particle image velocimetry (DPIV) technique. A prediction of thrust force and efficiency is calculated from the average wake deficit of DPIV data, the near-wake vorticity patterns and time dependent velocity vectors are determined to comment on the thrust and drag indication. Direct force measurements are attempted using a Force/Torque sensor which is capable of measuring forces and moments in three axial directions.