WorldWideScience

Sample records for wing micro air

  1. Closed-Loop Control of Constrained Flapping Wing Micro Air Vehicles

    Science.gov (United States)

    2014-03-27

    predicts forces and moments for the class of flapping wing fliers that makes up most insects and hummingbirds. Large bird and butterfly “clap- and...Closed-Loop Control of Constrained Flapping Wing Micro Air Vehicles DISSERTATION Garrison J. Lindholm, Captain, USAF AFIT-ENY-DS-14-M-02 DEPARTMENT...States Air Force, Department of Defense, or the United States Government. AFIT-ENY-DS-14-M-02 Closed-Loop Control of Constrained Flapping Wing Micro Air

  2. Fixed-Wing Micro Air Vehicles with Hovering Capabilities

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Bataille, Boris; Poinsot, Damien; Thipyopas, Chinnapat; Moschetta, Jean-Marc

    2007-01-01

    Fixed-wing micro air vehicles (MAV) are very attractive for outdoor surveillance missions since they generally offer better payload and endurance capabilities than rotorcraft or flapping-wing vehicles of equal size...

  3. Piezoelectric energy harvesting from morphing wing motions for micro air vehicles

    KAUST Repository

    Abdelkefi, Abdessattar

    2013-09-10

    Wing flapping and morphing can be very beneficial to managing the weight of micro air vehicles through coupling the aerodynamic forces with stability and control. In this letter, harvesting energy from the wing morphing is studied to power cameras, sensors, or communication devices of micro air vehicles and to aid in the management of their power. The aerodynamic loads on flapping wings are simulated using a three-dimensional unsteady vortex lattice method. Active wing shape morphing is considered to enhance the performance of the flapping motion. A gradient-based optimization algorithm is used to pinpoint the optimal kinematics maximizing the propellent efficiency. To benefit from the wing deformation, we place piezoelectric layers near the wing roots. Gauss law is used to estimate the electrical harvested power. We demonstrate that enough power can be generated to operate a camera. Numerical analysis shows the feasibility of exploiting wing morphing to harvest energy and improving the design and performance of micro air vehicles.

  4. Development of Micro Air Vehicle Technology With In-Flight Adaptive-Wing Structure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Waszak, Martin R. (Technical Monitor); Shkarayev, Sergey; Null, William; Wagner, Matthew

    2004-01-01

    This is a final report on the research studies, "Development of Micro Air Vehicle Technology with In-Flight Adaptrive-Wing Structure". This project involved the development of variable-camber technology to achieve efficient design of micro air vehicles. Specifically, it focused on the following topics: 1) Low Reynolds number wind tunnel testing of cambered-plate wings. 2) Theoretical performance analysis of micro air vehicles. 3) Design of a variable-camber MAV actuated by micro servos. 4) Test flights of a variable-camber MAV.

  5. Piezoelectric energy harvesting from morphing wing motions for micro air vehicles

    KAUST Repository

    Abdelkefi, Abdessattar; Ghommem, Mehdi

    2013-01-01

    Wing flapping and morphing can be very beneficial to managing the weight of micro air vehicles through coupling the aerodynamic forces with stability and control. In this letter, harvesting energy from the wing morphing is studied to power cameras

  6. Flapping and flexible wings for biological and micro air vehicles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shyy, Wei; Berg, Mats; Ljungqvist, Daniel

    1999-07-01

    Micro air vehicles (MAVs) with wing spans of 15 cm or less, and flight speed of 30-60 kph are of interest for military and civilian applications. There are two prominent features of MAV flight: (i) low Reynolds number (10 4-10 5), resulting in unfavorable aerodynamic conditions to support controlled flight, and (ii) small physical dimensions, resulting in certain favorable scaling characteristics including structural strength, reduced stall speed, and low inertia. Based on observations of biological flight vehicles, it appears that wing motion and flexible airfoils are two key attributes for flight at low Reynolds number. The small size of MAVs corresponds in nature to small birds, which do not glide like large birds, but instead flap with considerable change of wing shape during a single flapping cycle. With flapping and flexible wings, birds overcome the deteriorating aerodynamic performance under steady flow conditions by employing unsteady mechanisms. In this article, we review both biological and aeronautical literatures to present salient features relevant to MAVs. We first summarize scaling laws of biological and micro air vehicles involving wing span, wing loading, vehicle mass, cruising speed, flapping frequency, and power. Next we discuss kinematics of flapping wings and aerodynamic models for analyzing lift, drag and power. Then we present issues related to low Reynolds number flows and airfoil shape selection. Recent work on flexible structures capable of adjusting the airfoil shape in response to freestream variations is also discussed.

  7. Experimental Characterization of Wings for a Hawkmoth-Sized Micro Air Vehicle

    Science.gov (United States)

    2014-03-27

    butterfly where the modeshapes were found to be identical with the Hawkmoth, lending more credence to the assertion that the wing modal ratios...EXPERIMENTAL CHARACTERIZATION OF WINGS FOR A HAWKMOTH-SIZED MICRO AIR VEHICLE THESIS Zachary R. Brown, Lieutenant Commander, USN AFIT-ENY-14-M-10...of the U.S. Government and is not subject to copyright protection in the United States. AFIT-ENY-14-M-10 EXPERIMENTAL CHARACTERIZATION OF WINGS FOR A

  8. Artificial insect wings of diverse morphology for flapping-wing micro air vehicles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shang, J K; Finio, B M; Wood, R J; Combes, S A

    2009-01-01

    The development of flapping-wing micro air vehicles (MAVs) demands a systematic exploration of the available design space to identify ways in which the unsteady mechanisms governing flapping-wing flight can best be utilized for producing optimal thrust or maneuverability. Mimicking the wing kinematics of biological flight requires examining the potential effects of wing morphology on flight performance, as wings may be specially adapted for flapping flight. For example, insect wings passively deform during flight, leading to instantaneous and potentially unpredictable changes in aerodynamic behavior. Previous studies have postulated various explanations for insect wing complexity, but there lacks a systematic approach for experimentally examining the functional significance of components of wing morphology, and for determining whether or not natural design principles can or should be used for MAVs. In this work, a novel fabrication process to create centimeter-scale wings of great complexity is introduced; via this process, a wing can be fabricated with a large range of desired mechanical and geometric characteristics. We demonstrate the versatility of the process through the creation of planar, insect-like wings with biomimetic venation patterns that approximate the mechanical properties of their natural counterparts under static loads. This process will provide a platform for studies investigating the effects of wing morphology on flight dynamics, which may lead to the design of highly maneuverable and efficient MAVs and insight into the functional morphology of natural wings.

  9. Membrane wing aerodynamics for micro air vehicles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lian, Yongsheng; Shyy, Wei; Viieru, Dragos; Zhang, Baoning

    2003-10-01

    The aerodynamic performance of a wing deteriorates considerably as the Reynolds number decreases from 10 6 to 10 4. In particular, flow separation can result in substantial change in effective airfoil shape and cause reduced aerodynamic performance. Lately, there has been growing interest in developing suitable techniques for sustained and robust flight of micro air vehicles (MAVs) with a wingspan of 15 cm or smaller, flight speed around 10 m/ s, and a corresponding Reynolds number of 10 4-10 5. This paper reviews the aerodynamics of membrane and corresponding rigid wings under the MAV flight conditions. The membrane wing is observed to yield desirable characteristics in delaying stall as well as adapting to the unsteady flight environment, which is intrinsic to the designated flight speed. Flow structures associated with the low Reynolds number and low aspect ratio wing, such as pressure distribution, separation bubble and tip vortex are reviewed. Structural dynamics in response to the surrounding flow field is presented to highlight the multiple time-scale phenomena. Based on the computational capabilities for treating moving boundary problems, wing shape optimization can be conducted in automated manners. To enhance the lift, the effect of endplates is evaluated. The proper orthogonal decomposition method is also discussed as an economic tool to describe the flow structure around a wing and to facilitate flow and vehicle control.

  10. CFD based aerodynamic modeling to study flight dynamics of a flapping wing micro air vehicle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rege, Alok Ashok

    The demand for small unmanned air vehicles, commonly termed micro air vehicles or MAV's, is rapidly increasing. Driven by applications ranging from civil search-and-rescue missions to military surveillance missions, there is a rising level of interest and investment in better vehicle designs, and miniaturized components are enabling many rapid advances. The need to better understand fundamental aspects of flight for small vehicles has spawned a surge in high quality research in the area of micro air vehicles. These aircraft have a set of constraints which are, in many ways, considerably different from that of traditional aircraft and are often best addressed by a multidisciplinary approach. Fast-response non-linear controls, nano-structures, integrated propulsion and lift mechanisms, highly flexible structures, and low Reynolds aerodynamics are just a few of the important considerations which may be combined in the execution of MAV research. The main objective of this thesis is to derive a consistent nonlinear dynamic model to study the flight dynamics of micro air vehicles with a reasonably accurate representation of aerodynamic forces and moments. The research is divided into two sections. In the first section, derivation of the nonlinear dynamics of flapping wing micro air vehicles is presented. The flapping wing micro air vehicle (MAV) used in this research is modeled as a system of three rigid bodies: a body and two wings. The design is based on an insect called Drosophila Melanogaster, commonly known as fruit-fly. The mass and inertial effects of the wing on the body are neglected for the present work. The nonlinear dynamics is simulated with the aerodynamic data published in the open literature. The flapping frequency is used as the control input. Simulations are run for different cases of wing positions and the chosen parameters are studied for boundedness. Results show a qualitative inconsistency in boundedness for some cases, and demand a better

  11. Design and mechanical analysis of a 3D-printed biodegradable biomimetic micro air vehicle wing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Salami, E.; Ganesan, P. B.; Ward, T. A.; Viyapuri, R.; Romli, F. I.

    2016-10-01

    The biomimetic micro air vehicles (BMAV) are unmanned, micro-scaled aircraft that are bio-inspired from flying organisms to achieve the lift and thrust by flapping their wings. There are still many technological challenges involved with designing the BMAV. One of these is designing the ultra-lightweight materials and structures for the wings that have enough mechanical strength to withstand continuous flapping at high frequencies. Insects achieve this by having chitin-based, wing frame structures that encompass a thin, film membrane. The main objectives of this study are to design a biodegradable BMAV wing (inspired from the dragonfly) and analyze its mechanical properties. The dragonfly-like wing frame structure was bio-mimicked and fabricated using a 3D printer. A chitosan nanocomposite film membrane was applied to the BMAV wing frames through casting method. Its mechanical performance was analyzed using universal testing machine (UTM). This analysis indicates that the tensile strength and Young's modulus of the wing with a membrane is nearly double that of the wing without a membrane, which allow higher wing beat frequencies and deflections that in turn enable a greater lifting performance.

  12. Nano-mechanical properties and structural of a 3D-printed biodegradable biomimetic micro air vehicle wing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Salami, E.; Montazer, E.; Ward, T. A.; Ganesan, P. B.

    2017-06-01

    The biomimetic micro air vehicles (BMAV) are unmanned, micro-scaled aircraft that are bio-inspired from flying organisms to achieve the lift and thrust by flapping their wings. The main objectives of this study are to design a BMAV wing (inspired from the dragonfly) and analyse its nano-mechanical properties. In order to gain insights into the flight mechanics of dragonfly, reverse engineering methods were used to establish three-dimensional geometrical models of the dragonfly wings, so we can make a comparative analysis. Then mechanical test of the real dragonfly wings was performed to provide experimental parameter values for mechanical models in terms of nano-hardness and elastic modulus. The mechanical properties of wings were measured by nanoindentre. Finally, a simplified model was designed and the dragonfly-like wing frame structure was bio-mimicked and fabricated using a 3D printer. Then mechanical test of the BMAV wings was performed to analyse and compare the wings under a variety of simplified load regimes that are concentrated force, uniform line-load and a torque. This work opened up the possibility towards developing an engineering basis for the biomimetic design of BMAV wings.

  13. Comprehensive modeling and control of flexible flapping wing micro air vehicles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nogar, Stephen Michael

    Flapping wing micro air vehicles hold significant promise due to the potential for improved aerodynamic efficiency, enhanced maneuverability and hover capability compared to fixed and rotary configurations. However, significant technical challenges exist to due the lightweight, highly integrated nature of the vehicle and coupling between the actuators, flexible wings and control system. Experimental and high fidelity analysis has demonstrated that aeroelastic effects can change the effective kinematics of the wing, reducing vehicle stability. However, many control studies for flapping wing vehicles do not consider these effects, and instead validate the control strategy with simple assumptions, including rigid wings, quasi-steady aerodynamics and no consideration of actuator dynamics. A control evaluation model that includes aeroelastic effects and actuator dynamics is developed. The structural model accounts for geometrically nonlinear behavior using an implicit condensation technique and the aerodynamic loads are found using a time accurate approach that includes quasi-steady, rotational, added mass and unsteady effects. Empirically based parameters in the model are fit using data obtained from a higher fidelity solver. The aeroelastic model and its ingredients are compared to experiments and computations using models of higher fidelity, and indicate reasonable agreement. The developed control evaluation model is implemented in a previously published, baseline controller that maintains stability using an asymmetric wingbeat, known as split-cycle, along with changing the flapping frequency and wing bias. The model-based controller determines the control inputs using a cycle-averaged, linear control design model, which assumes a rigid wing and no actuator dynamics. The introduction of unaccounted for dynamics significantly degrades the ability of the controller to track a reference trajectory, and in some cases destabilizes the vehicle. This demonstrates the

  14. Aerodynamics of a bio-inspired flexible flapping-wing micro air vehicle

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nakata, T; Liu, H; Nishihashi, N; Wang, X; Sato, A; Tanaka, Y

    2011-01-01

    MAVs (micro air vehicles) with a maximal dimension of 15 cm and nominal flight speeds of around 10 m s −1 , operate in a Reynolds number regime of 10 5 or lower, in which most natural flyers including insects, bats and birds fly. Furthermore, due to their light weight and low flight speed, the MAVs' flight characteristics are substantially affected by environmental factors such as wind gust. Like natural flyers, the wing structures of MAVs are often flexible and tend to deform during flight. Consequently, the aero/fluid and structural dynamics of these flyers are closely linked to each other, making the entire flight vehicle difficult to analyze. We have recently developed a hummingbird-inspired, flapping flexible wing MAV with a weight of 2.4–3.0 g and a wingspan of 10–12 cm. In this study, we carry out an integrated study of the flexible wing aerodynamics of this flapping MAV by combining an in-house computational fluid dynamic (CFD) method and wind tunnel experiments. A CFD model that has a realistic wing planform and can mimic realistic flexible wing kinematics is established, which provides a quantitative prediction of unsteady aerodynamics of the four-winged MAV in terms of vortex and wake structures and their relationship with aerodynamic force generation. Wind tunnel experiments further confirm the effectiveness of the clap and fling mechanism employed in this bio-inspired MAV as well as the importance of the wing flexibility in designing small flapping-wing MAVs.

  15. Clap-and-fling mechanism in a hovering insect-like two-winged flapping-wing micro air vehicle.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Phan, Hoang Vu; Au, Thi Kim Loan; Park, Hoon Cheol

    2016-12-01

    This study used numerical and experimental approaches to investigate the role played by the clap-and-fling mechanism in enhancing force generation in hovering insect-like two-winged flapping-wing micro air vehicle (FW-MAV). The flapping mechanism was designed to symmetrically flap wings at a high flapping amplitude of approximately 192°. The clap-and-fling mechanisms were thereby implemented at both dorsal and ventral stroke reversals. A computational fluid dynamic (CFD) model was constructed based on three-dimensional wing kinematics to estimate the force generation, which was validated by the measured forces using a 6-axis load cell. The computed forces proved that the CFD model provided reasonable estimation with differences less than 8%, when compared with the measured forces. The measurement indicated that the clap and flings at both the stroke reversals augmented the average vertical force by 16.2% when compared with the force without the clap-and-fling effect. In the CFD simulation, the clap and flings enhanced the vertical force by 11.5% and horizontal drag force by 18.4%. The observations indicated that both the fling and the clap contributed to the augmented vertical force by 62.6% and 37.4%, respectively, and to the augmented horizontal drag force by 71.7% and 28.3%, respectively. The flow structures suggested that a strong downwash was expelled from the opening gap between the trailing edges during the fling as well as the clap at each stroke reversal. In addition to the fling phases, the influx of air into the low-pressure region between the wings from the leading edges also significantly contributed to augmentation of the vertical force. The study conducted for high Reynolds numbers also confirmed that the effect of the clap and fling was insignificant when the minimum distance between the two wings exceeded 1.2c (c = wing chord). Thus, the clap and flings were successfully implemented in the FW-MAV, and there was a significant improvement in the

  16. Design of flapping wings for application to single active degree of freedom micro air vehicles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chang, Kelvin Thomas

    This dissertation covers an experimental program to understand how wing compliance influences the performance of flapping micro air vehicle wings. The focus is the design of a membraned flapping wing for a single active degree of freedom mechanism, looking to maximize thrust performance in hover conditions. The optimization approach is unique in that experiments were the chosen engine as opposed to a computation model; this is because of the complexity involved in hover-mode flapping aerodynamics. The flapping mechanism and manufacturing process for fabricating the wings were carefully developed. The uncertainty in the thrust measurement was identified and reduced by implementing precision machining and repeatable techniques for fabrication. This resulted in a reduction of the manufacturing coefficient of variation from 16.8% to 2.6%. Optimization was then conducted for a single objective (Maximize thrust), using a three parameter design space, finding the highest thrust performance in wings with high aspect ratio; then, a multi-objective optimization was conducted with two objectives (Thrust and Power) and a four parameter space. The research then shifted focus to identifying the stiffness and deformation characteristics of high performance wing designs. Static stiffness measurements with a simple line load suggested that high chordwise stiffness or lower spanwise stiffness would be favorable for aerodynamic performance. To explore more components of the deformation, a full-field imaging technique was used and a uniform load was substituted to engage with the membrane. It was found that there is a range of torsional compliance where the wing is most efficient especially at higher flapping frequencies. The final component of the study was the dynamic deformation measurement. The two system, four camera digital image correlation setup uses stroboscopic measurement to capture the wing deformation. The phase shift between the twist and stroke, and the tip deflection

  17. Power Requirements for Bi-Harmonic Amplitude and Bias Modulation Control of a Flapping Wing Micro Air Vehicle

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-03-01

    nature, would have the inherent benefit of stealth through mimicry of insects. Such a MAV is referred to as a flapping wing micro air vehicle (FWMAV...Insect exoskeletons are formed from a complex blend of polymer-based chains that make up the body, limbs, and wings, which act as a barrier between the...reducing weight, increasing agility, and integrating robotics in future forces. [38] Increasing agility and integrating robotics indicates that control is a

  18. Modeling and Closed Loop Flight Testing of a Fixed Wing Micro Air Vehicle

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Harikumar Kandath

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents the nonlinear six degrees of freedom dynamic modeling of a fixed wing micro air vehicle. The static derivatives of the micro air vehicle are obtained through the wind tunnel testing. The propeller effects on the lift, drag, pitching moment and side force are quantified through wind tunnel testing. The dynamic derivatives are obtained through empirical relations available in the literature. The trim conditions are computed for a straight and constant altitude flight condition. The linearized longitudinal and lateral state space models are obtained about trim conditions. The variations in short period mode, phugoid mode, Dutch roll mode, roll subsidence mode and spiral mode with respect to different trim operating conditions is presented. A stabilizing static output feedback controller is designed using the obtained model. Successful closed loop flight trials are conducted with the static output feedback controller.

  19. Incremental Nonlinear Dynamic Inversion and Multihole Pressure Probes for Disturbance Rejection Control of Fixed-wing Micro Air Vehicles

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Smeur, E.J.J.; Remes, B.D.W.; de Wagter, C.; Chu, Q.; J.-M. Moschetta G. Hattenberger, H. de Plinval

    2017-01-01

    Maintaining stable flight during high turbulence intensities is challenging for fixed-wing micro air vehicles (MAV). Two methods are proposed
    to improve the disturbance rejection performance of the MAV: incremental nonlinear dynamic inversion (INDI) control and phaseadvanced pitch probes. INDI

  20. Verification of a smart wing design for a micro-air-vehicle through simulation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wickramasinghe, V.; Chen, Y.; Nejad-Ensan, M.; Martinez, M. [National Research Council of Canada, Montreal, PQ (Canada). Inst. for Aerospace Research; Wong, F. [Defence Research and Development Canada, Valcartier, PQ (Canada); Kraemer, K. [Department of National Defence, Ottawa, ON (Canada). Directorate of Technical Airworthiness and Engineering Support

    2008-07-01

    Micro-air-vehicles (MAV) are small, light-weight aircraft that perform a variety of missions. This paper described a smart wing structure consisting of a composite spar and ailerons with integrated piezoceramic fibre actuators that was designed for MAV use. This fixed-wing MAV can hover vertically like a rotary-wing vehicle through a flight manoeuvre known as prop-hanging. In order to maintain MAV orientation, the hover manoeuvre requires roll control of the fixed-wing aircraft through differential aileron deflection. Since conventional aileron control systems have components that add weight, it is necessary to use smart structure approaches with active materials to design a lightweight, robust wing for the MAV with less power requirements. This paper proposed a smart wing structure that consists of a composite spar and ailerons that have bimorph active ribs consisting of piezoceramic fiber actuators with interdigitated electrodes. Actuation is enhanced by preloading the piezoceramic fiber actuators with a compressive axial load. The preload is exerted on the actuators through a passive latex or electro active polymer (EAP) skin that wraps around the airfoil. The EAP skin enhances the actuation by providing a electrostatic effect of the dielectric polymer. Analytical modeling and finite element analysis showed that the proposed smart wing concept achieved a target deflection of 30 degrees in both the wind-off and wind-on flight conditions. The smart structure approach with active materials enabled the design of a lightweight, robust wing by reducing the number of components typically associated with conventional aileron control systems. 11 refs., 2 tabs., 5 figs.

  1. Design and verification of a smart wing for an extreme-agility micro-air-vehicle

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wickramasinghe, Viresh; Chen, Yong; Martinez, Marcias; Kernaghan, Robert; Wong, Franklin

    2011-01-01

    A special class of fixed-wing micro-air-vehicle (MAV) is currently being designed to fly and hover to provide range superiority as well as being able to hover through a flight maneuver known as prop-hanging to accomplish a variety of surveillance missions. The hover maneuver requires roll control of the wing through differential aileron deflection but a conventional system contributes significantly to the gross weight and complexity of a MAV. Therefore, it is advantageous to use smart structure approaches with active materials to design a lightweight, robust wing for the MAV. The proposed smart wing consists of an active trailing edge flap integrated with bimorph actuators with piezoceramic fibers. Actuation is enhanced by preloading the bimorph actuators with a compressive axial load. The preload is exerted on the actuators through a passive latex or electroactive polymer (EAP) skin that wraps around the airfoil. An EAP skin would further enhance the actuation by providing an electrostatic effect of the dielectric polymer to increase the deflection. Analytical modeling as well as finite element analysis show that the proposed concept could achieve the target bi-directional deflection of 30° in typical flight conditions. Several bimorph actuators were manufactured and an experimental setup was designed to measure the static and dynamic deflections. The experimental results validated the analytical technique and finite element models, which have been further used to predict the performance of the smart wing design for a MAV

  2. Design and verification of a smart wing for an extreme-agility micro-air-vehicle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wickramasinghe, Viresh; Chen, Yong; Martinez, Marcias; Wong, Franklin; Kernaghan, Robert

    2011-12-01

    A special class of fixed-wing micro-air-vehicle (MAV) is currently being designed to fly and hover to provide range superiority as well as being able to hover through a flight maneuver known as prop-hanging to accomplish a variety of surveillance missions. The hover maneuver requires roll control of the wing through differential aileron deflection but a conventional system contributes significantly to the gross weight and complexity of a MAV. Therefore, it is advantageous to use smart structure approaches with active materials to design a lightweight, robust wing for the MAV. The proposed smart wing consists of an active trailing edge flap integrated with bimorph actuators with piezoceramic fibers. Actuation is enhanced by preloading the bimorph actuators with a compressive axial load. The preload is exerted on the actuators through a passive latex or electroactive polymer (EAP) skin that wraps around the airfoil. An EAP skin would further enhance the actuation by providing an electrostatic effect of the dielectric polymer to increase the deflection. Analytical modeling as well as finite element analysis show that the proposed concept could achieve the target bi-directional deflection of 30° in typical flight conditions. Several bimorph actuators were manufactured and an experimental setup was designed to measure the static and dynamic deflections. The experimental results validated the analytical technique and finite element models, which have been further used to predict the performance of the smart wing design for a MAV.

  3. Autonomous Flight of Flapping Wing Micro Air Vehicles

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Tijmons, S.

    2017-01-01

    Many types of drones have emerged over the last decade and new applications in various sectors are announced almost on a daily basis. In scientific literature, small drones are called Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs). Especially very small MAVs will play a significant role in indoor applications, since

  4. Quad-thopter: Tailless Flapping Wing Robot with 4 Pairs of Wings

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    de Wagter, C.; Karasek, M.; de Croon, G.C.H.E.; J.-M. Moschetta G. Hattenberger, H. de Plinval

    2017-01-01

    We present a novel design of a tailless flapping wing Micro Air Vehicle (MAV), which uses four independently driven pairs of flapping wings in order to fly and perform agile maneuvers. The wing pairs are arranged such that differential thrust generates the desired roll and pitch moments, similar to

  5. The scalable design of flapping micro air vehicles inspired by insect flight

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Lentink, D.; Jongerius, S.R.; Bradshaw, N.L.

    2009-01-01

    Here we explain how flapping micro air vehicles (MAVs) can be designed at different scales, from bird to insect size. The common believe is that micro fixed wing airplanes and helicopters outperform MAVs at bird scale, but become inferior to flapping MAVs at the scale of insects as small as fruit

  6. Getting Started with PEAs-Based Flapping-Wing Mechanisms for Micro Aerial Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    José Carlos Durán Hernández

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available This paper introduces recent advances on flapping-wing Micro and Nano Aerial Vehicles (MAVs and NAVs based on Piezoelectric Actuators (PEA. Therefore, this work provides essential information to address the development of such bio-inspired aerial robots. PEA are commonly used in micro-robotics and precise positioning applications (e.g., micro-positioning and micro-manipulation, whereas within the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs domain, motors are the classical actuators used for rotary or fixed-wing configurations. Therefore, we consider it pertinent to provide essential information regarding the modeling and control of piezoelectric cantilever actuators to accelerate early design and development stages of aerial microrobots based on flapping-wing systems. In addition, the equations describing the aerodynamic behavior of a flapping-wing configuration are presented.

  7. Ornithopter Type Flapping Wings for Autonomous Micro Air Vehicles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sutthiphong Srigrarom

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, an ornithopter prototype that mimics the flapping motion of bird flight is developed, and the lift and thrust generation characteristics of different wing designs are evaluated. This project focused on the spar arrangement and material used for the wings that could achieves improved performance. Various lift and thrust measurement techniques are explored and evaluated. Various wings of insects and birds were evaluated to understand how these natural flyers with flapping wings are able to produce sufficient lift to fly. The differences in the flapping aerodynamics were also detailed. Experiments on different wing designs and materials were conducted and a paramount wing was built for a test flight. The first prototype has a length of 46.5 cm, wing span of 88 cm, and weighs 161 g. A mechanism which produced a flapping motion was fabricated and designed to create flapping flight. The flapping flight was produced by using a single motor and a flexible and light wing structure. A force balance made of load cell was then designed to measure the thrust and lift force of the ornithopter. Three sets of wings varying flexibility were fabricated, therefore lift and thrust measurements were acquired from each different set of wings. The lift will be measured in ten cycles computing the average lift and frequency in three different speeds or frequencies (slow, medium and fast. The thrust measurement was measure likewise but in two cycles only. Several observations were made regarding the behavior of flexible flapping wings that should aid in the design of future flexible flapping wing vehicles. The wings angle or phase characteristic were analyze too and studied. The final ornithopter prototype weighs only 160 g, has a wing span of 88.5 cm, that could flap at a maximum flapping frequency of 3.869 Hz, and produce a maximum thrust and lift of about 0.719 and 0.264 N respectively. Next, we proposed resonance type flapping wing utilizes the near

  8. Ornithopter Type Flapping Wings for Autonomous Micro Air Vehicles

    OpenAIRE

    Sutthiphong Srigrarom; Woei-Leong Chan

    2015-01-01

    In this paper, an ornithopter prototype that mimics the flapping motion of bird flight is developed, and the lift and thrust generation characteristics of different wing designs are evaluated. This project focused on the spar arrangement and material used for the wings that could achieves improved performance. Various lift and thrust measurement techniques are explored and evaluated. Various wings of insects and birds were evaluated to understand how these natural flyers with flapping wings a...

  9. Design and stable flight of a 21 g insect-like tailless flapping wing micro air vehicle with angular rates feedback control.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Phan, Hoang Vu; Kang, Taesam; Park, Hoon Cheol

    2017-04-04

    An insect-like tailless flapping wing micro air vehicle (FW-MAV) without feedback control eventually becomes unstable after takeoff. Flying an insect-like tailless FW-MAV is more challenging than flying a bird-like tailed FW-MAV, due to the difference in control principles. This work introduces the design and controlled flight of an insect-like tailless FW-MAV, named KUBeetle. A combination of four-bar linkage and pulley-string mechanisms was used to develop a lightweight flapping mechanism that could achieve a high flapping amplitude of approximately 190°. Clap-and-flings at dorsal and ventral stroke reversals were implemented to enhance vertical force. In the absence of a control surface at the tail, adjustment of the location of the trailing edges at the wing roots to modulate the rotational angle of the wings was used to generate control moments for the attitude control. Measurements by a 6-axis load cell showed that the control mechanism produced reasonable pitch, roll and yaw moments according to the corresponding control inputs. The control mechanism was integrated with three sub-micro servos to realize the pitch, roll and yaw controls. A simple PD feedback controller was implemented for flight stability with an onboard microcontroller and a gyroscope that sensed the pitch, roll and yaw rates. Several flight tests demonstrated that the tailless KUBeetle could successfully perform a vertical climb, then hover and loiter within a 0.3 m ground radius with small variations in pitch and roll body angles.

  10. Development of Bird-like Micro Aerial Vehicle with Flapping and Feathering Wing Motions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maglasang, Jonathan; Goto, Norihiro; Isogai, Koji

    To investigate the feasibility of a highly efficient flapping system capable of avian maneuvers, such as rapid takeoff, hover and gliding, a full scale bird-like (ornithopter) flapping-wing micro aerial vehicle (MAV) shaped and patterned after a typical pigeon (Columba livia) has been designed and constructed. Both numerical and experimental methods have been used in the development of this vehicle. This flapping-wing micro aerial vehicle utilizes both the flapping and feathering motions of an avian wing by employing a novel flapping-feathering mechanism, which has been synthesized and constructed so as to best describe the properly coordinated flapping and feathering wing motions at phase angle difference of 90° in a horizontal steady level flight condition. This design allows high flapping and feathering amplitudes and is configurable for asymmetric wing motions which are desirable in high-speed flapping flight and maneuvering. The preliminary results indicate its viability as a practical and an efficient flapping-wing micro aerial vehicle.

  11. Nonlinear dynamics of biomimetic micro air vehicles

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hou, Y; Kong, J [College of Mechanical Automation, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430081 (China)], E-mail: fly_houyu@163.com.cn

    2008-02-15

    Flapping-wing micro air vehicles (FMAV) are new conceptual air vehicles that mimic the flying modes of birds and insects. They surpass the research fields of traditional airplane design and aerodynamics on application technologies, and initiate the applications of MEMS technologies on aviation fields. This paper studies a micro flapping mechanism that based upon insect thorax and actuated by electrostatic force. Because there are strong nonlinear coupling between the two physical domains, electrical and mechanical, the static and dynamic characteristics of this system are very complicated. Firstly, the nonlinear dynamic model of the electromechanical coupling system is set up according to the physical model of the flapping mechanism. The dynamic response of the system in constant voltage is studied by numerical method. Then the effect of damping and initial condition on dynamic characteristics of the system is analyzed in phase space. In addition, the dynamic responses of the system in sine voltage excitation are discussed. The results of research are helpful to the design, fabrication and application of the micro flapping mechanism of FMAV, and also to other micro electromechanical system that actuated by electrostatic force.

  12. Design and analysis of biomimetic joints for morphing of micro air vehicles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grant, Daniel T; Abdulrahim, Mujahid; Lind, Rick

    2010-12-01

    Flight capability for micro air vehicles is rapidly maturing throughout the aviation community; however, mission capability has not yet matured at the same pace. Maintaining trim during a descent or in the presence of crosswinds remains challenging for fixed-wing aircraft but yet is routinely performed by birds. This paper presents an overview of designs that incorporate morphing to enhance their flight characteristics. In particular, a series of joints and structures is adopted from seagulls to alter either the dihedral or sweep of the wings and thus alter the flight characteristics. The resulting vehicles are able to trim with significantly increased angles of attack and sideslip compared to traditional fixed-wing vehicles.

  13. Design and analysis of biomimetic joints for morphing of micro air vehicles

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Grant, Daniel T; Abdulrahim, Mujahid; Lind, Rick, E-mail: ricklind@ufl.ed [Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611 (United States)

    2010-12-15

    Flight capability for micro air vehicles is rapidly maturing throughout the aviation community; however, mission capability has not yet matured at the same pace. Maintaining trim during a descent or in the presence of crosswinds remains challenging for fixed-wing aircraft but yet is routinely performed by birds. This paper presents an overview of designs that incorporate morphing to enhance their flight characteristics. In particular, a series of joints and structures is adopted from seagulls to alter either the dihedral or sweep of the wings and thus alter the flight characteristics. The resulting vehicles are able to trim with significantly increased angles of attack and sideslip compared to traditional fixed-wing vehicles.

  14. Design and analysis of biomimetic joints for morphing of micro air vehicles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Grant, Daniel T; Abdulrahim, Mujahid; Lind, Rick

    2010-01-01

    Flight capability for micro air vehicles is rapidly maturing throughout the aviation community; however, mission capability has not yet matured at the same pace. Maintaining trim during a descent or in the presence of crosswinds remains challenging for fixed-wing aircraft but yet is routinely performed by birds. This paper presents an overview of designs that incorporate morphing to enhance their flight characteristics. In particular, a series of joints and structures is adopted from seagulls to alter either the dihedral or sweep of the wings and thus alter the flight characteristics. The resulting vehicles are able to trim with significantly increased angles of attack and sideslip compared to traditional fixed-wing vehicles.

  15. Wind and water tunnel testing of a morphing aquatic micro air vehicle.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Siddall, Robert; Ortega Ancel, Alejandro; Kovač, Mirko

    2017-02-06

    Aerial robots capable of locomotion in both air and water would enable novel mission profiles in complex environments, such as water sampling after floods or underwater structural inspections. The design of such a vehicle is challenging because it implies significant propulsive and structural design trade-offs for operation in both fluids. In this paper, we present a unique Aquatic Micro Air Vehicle (AquaMAV), which uses a reconfigurable wing to dive into the water from flight, inspired by the plunge diving strategy of water diving birds in the family Sulidae . The vehicle's performance is investigated in wind and water tunnel experiments, from which we develop a planar trajectory model. This model is used to predict the dive behaviour of the AquaMAV, and investigate the efficacy of passive dives initiated by wing folding as a means of water entry. The paper also includes first field tests of the AquaMAV prototype where the folding wings are used to initiate a plunge dive.

  16. Model identification of a flapping wing micro aerial vehicle

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Aguiar Vieira Caetano, J.V.

    2016-01-01

    Different flapping wing micro aerial vehicles (FWMAV) have been developed for academic (Harvard’s RoboBee), military (Israel Aerospace Industries’ Butterfly) and technology demonstration (Aerovironment’s NanoHummingBird) purposes. Among these, theDelFly II is recognized as one of themost successful

  17. Aerodynamics of flapping-wing Micro-Air-Vehicle : An integrated experimental and numerical study

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Deng, S.

    2016-01-01

    The interest in Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs) has stimulated continuous research activities, in view of their potential in civilian and military applications. An autonomous MAV with dedicated onboard sensors would be capable of executing mission in closed environments, such as surveillance, in door

  18. Beetle wings are inflatable origami

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Rui; Ren, Jing; Ge, Siqin; Hu, David

    2015-11-01

    Beetles keep their wings folded and protected under a hard shell. In times of danger, they must unfold them rapidly in order for them to fly to escape. Moreover, they must do so across a range of body mass, from 1 mg to 10 grams. How can they unfold their wings so quickly? We use high-speed videography to record wing unfolding times, which we relate to the geometry of the network of blood vessels in the wing. Larger beetles have longer unfolding times. Modeling of the flow of blood through the veins successfully accounts for the wing unfolding speed of large beetles. However, smaller beetles have anomalously short unfolding times, suggesting they have lower blood viscosity or higher driving pressure. The use of hydraulics to unfold complex objects may have implications in the design of micro-flying air vehicles.

  19. New Concepts and Perspectives on Micro-Rotorcraft and Small Autonomous Rotary-Wing Vehicles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Young, Larry A.; Aiken, E. W.; Johnson, J. L.; Demblewski, R.; Andrews, J.; Aiken, Irwin W. (Technical Monitor)

    2001-01-01

    A key part of the strategic vision for rotorcraft research as identified by senior technologists within the Army/NASA Rotorcraft Division at NASA Ames Research Center is the development and use of small autonomous rotorcraft. Small autonomous rotorcraft are defined for the purposes of this paper to be a class of vehicles that range in size from rotary-wing micro air vehicles (MAVs) to larger, more conventionally sized, rotorcraft uninhabited aerial vehicles (UAVs) - i.e. vehicle gross weights ranging from hundreds of grams to thousands of kilograms. The development of small autonomous rotorcraft represents both a technology challenge and a potential new vehicle class that will have substantial societal impact for: national security, personal transport, planetary science, and public service.

  20. Structural dynamics and aerodynamics measurements of biologically inspired flexible flapping wings

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wu, P; Stanford, B K; Ifju, P G; Saellstroem, E; Ukeiley, L

    2011-01-01

    Flapping wing flight as seen in hummingbirds and insects poses an interesting unsteady aerodynamic problem: coupling of wing kinematics, structural dynamics and aerodynamics. There have been numerous studies on the kinematics and aerodynamics in both experimental and computational cases with both natural and artificial wings. These studies tend to ignore wing flexibility; however, observation in nature affirms that passive wing deformation is predominant and may be crucial to the aerodynamic performance. This paper presents a multidisciplinary experimental endeavor in correlating a flapping micro air vehicle wing's aeroelasticity and thrust production, by quantifying and comparing overall thrust, structural deformation and airflow of six pairs of hummingbird-shaped membrane wings of different properties. The results show that for a specific spatial distribution of flexibility, there is an effective frequency range in thrust production. The wing deformation at the thrust-productive frequencies indicates the importance of flexibility: both bending and twisting motion can interact with aerodynamic loads to enhance wing performance under certain conditions, such as the deformation phase and amplitude. By measuring structural deformations under the same aerodynamic conditions, beneficial effects of passive wing deformation can be observed from the visualized airflow and averaged thrust. The measurements and their presentation enable observation and understanding of the required structural properties for a thrust effective flapping wing. The intended passive responses of the different wings follow a particular pattern in correlation to their aerodynamic performance. Consequently, both the experimental technique and data analysis method can lead to further studies to determine the design principles for micro air vehicle flapping wings.

  1. Structural dynamics and aerodynamics measurements of biologically inspired flexible flapping wings

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wu, P; Stanford, B K; Ifju, P G [Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, MAE-A 231, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611 (United States); Saellstroem, E; Ukeiley, L, E-mail: diccidwp@ufl.edu [Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Florida, Shalimar, FL 32579 (United States)

    2011-03-15

    Flapping wing flight as seen in hummingbirds and insects poses an interesting unsteady aerodynamic problem: coupling of wing kinematics, structural dynamics and aerodynamics. There have been numerous studies on the kinematics and aerodynamics in both experimental and computational cases with both natural and artificial wings. These studies tend to ignore wing flexibility; however, observation in nature affirms that passive wing deformation is predominant and may be crucial to the aerodynamic performance. This paper presents a multidisciplinary experimental endeavor in correlating a flapping micro air vehicle wing's aeroelasticity and thrust production, by quantifying and comparing overall thrust, structural deformation and airflow of six pairs of hummingbird-shaped membrane wings of different properties. The results show that for a specific spatial distribution of flexibility, there is an effective frequency range in thrust production. The wing deformation at the thrust-productive frequencies indicates the importance of flexibility: both bending and twisting motion can interact with aerodynamic loads to enhance wing performance under certain conditions, such as the deformation phase and amplitude. By measuring structural deformations under the same aerodynamic conditions, beneficial effects of passive wing deformation can be observed from the visualized airflow and averaged thrust. The measurements and their presentation enable observation and understanding of the required structural properties for a thrust effective flapping wing. The intended passive responses of the different wings follow a particular pattern in correlation to their aerodynamic performance. Consequently, both the experimental technique and data analysis method can lead to further studies to determine the design principles for micro air vehicle flapping wings.

  2. Aerodynamic evaluation of wing shape and wing orientation in four butterfly species using numerical simulations and a low-speed wind tunnel, and its implications for the design of flying micro-robots.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ortega Ancel, Alejandro; Eastwood, Rodney; Vogt, Daniel; Ithier, Carter; Smith, Michael; Wood, Rob; Kovač, Mirko

    2017-02-06

    Many insects are well adapted to long-distance migration despite the larger energetic costs of flight for small body sizes. To optimize wing design for next-generation flying micro-robots, we analyse butterfly wing shapes and wing orientations at full scale using numerical simulations and in a low-speed wind tunnel at 2, 3.5 and 5 m s -1 . The results indicate that wing orientations which maximize wing span lead to the highest glide performance, with lift to drag ratios up to 6.28, while spreading the fore-wings forward can increase the maximum lift produced and thus improve versatility. We discuss the implications for flying micro-robots and how the results assist in understanding the behaviour of the butterfly species tested.

  3. Aerodynamic evaluation of wing shape and wing orientation in four butterfly species using numerical simulations and a low-speed wind tunnel, and its implications for the design of flying micro-robots

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eastwood, Rodney; Vogt, Daniel; Ithier, Carter; Smith, Michael; Wood, Rob; Kovač, Mirko

    2017-01-01

    Many insects are well adapted to long-distance migration despite the larger energetic costs of flight for small body sizes. To optimize wing design for next-generation flying micro-robots, we analyse butterfly wing shapes and wing orientations at full scale using numerical simulations and in a low-speed wind tunnel at 2, 3.5 and 5 m s−1. The results indicate that wing orientations which maximize wing span lead to the highest glide performance, with lift to drag ratios up to 6.28, while spreading the fore-wings forward can increase the maximum lift produced and thus improve versatility. We discuss the implications for flying micro-robots and how the results assist in understanding the behaviour of the butterfly species tested. PMID:28163879

  4. Machine Learning for Flapping Wing Flight Control

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Goedhart, Menno; van Kampen, E.; Armanini, S.F.; de Visser, C.C.; Chu, Q.

    2018-01-01

    Flight control of Flapping Wing Micro Air Vehicles is challenging, because of their complex dynamics and variability due to manufacturing inconsistencies. Machine Learning algorithms can be used to tackle these challenges. A Policy Gradient algorithm is used to tune the gains of a

  5. Model identification of a flapping wing micro aerial vehicle

    OpenAIRE

    Aguiar Vieira Caetano, J.V.

    2016-01-01

    Different flapping wing micro aerial vehicles (FWMAV) have been developed for academic (Harvard’s RoboBee), military (Israel Aerospace Industries’ Butterfly) and technology demonstration (Aerovironment’s NanoHummingBird) purposes. Among these, theDelFly II is recognized as one of themost successful configurations of FWMAV, with a broad flight envelope, that spans fromhover to fast forward flight, revealing autonomous capabilities in the form of automatic flight and obstacle avoidance. Despite...

  6. Measurement of shape and deformation of insect wing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yin, Duo; Wei, Zhen; Wang, Zeyu; Zhou, Changqiu

    2018-01-01

    To measure the shape and deformation of an insect wing, a scanning setup adopting laser triangulation and image matching was developed. Only one industry camera with two light sources was employed to scan the transparent insect wings. 3D shape and point to point full field deformation of the wings could be obtained even when the wingspan is less than 3 mm. The venation and corrugation could be significantly identified from the results. The deformation of the wing under pin loading could be seen clearly from the results as well. Calibration shows that the shape and deformation measurement accuracies are no lower than 0.01 mm. Laser triangulation and image matching were combined dexterously to adapt wings' complex shape, size, and transparency. It is suitable for insect flight research or flapping wing micro-air vehicle development.

  7. MicroRNAs of the mesothorax in Qinlingacris elaeodes, an alpine grasshopper showing a wing polymorphism with unilateral wing form.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, R; Jiang, G F; Ren, Q P; Wang, Y T; Zhou, X M; Zhou, C F; Qin, D Z

    2016-04-01

    MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are now recognized as key post-transcriptional regulators in regulation of phenotypic diversity. Qinlingacris elaeodes is a species of the alpine grasshopper, which is endemic to China. Adult individuals have three wing forms: wingless, unilateral-winged and short-winged. This is an ideal species to investigate the phenotypic plasticity, development and evolution of insect wings because of its case of unilateral wing form in both the sexes. We sequenced a small RNA library prepared from mesothoraxes of the adult grasshoppers using the Illumina deep sequencing technology. Approximately 12,792,458 raw reads were generated, of which the 854,580 high-quality reads were used only for miRNA identification. In this study, we identified 49 conserved miRNAs belonging to 41 families and 69 species-specific miRNAs. Moreover, seven miRNA*s were detected both for conserved miRNAs and species-specific miRNAs, which were supported by hairpin forming precursors based on polymerase chain reaction. This is the first description of miRNAs in alpine grasshoppers. The results provide a useful resource for further studies on molecular regulation and evolution of miRNAs in grasshoppers. These findings not only enrich the miRNAs for insects but also lay the groundwork for the study of post-transcriptional regulation of wing forms.

  8. STUDY ABOUT MAGNUS EFFECT ON SPINNING CYLINDERS AND ITS USE ON MICRO AIR VEHICLES

    OpenAIRE

    Stafy, Victor ,; Neto, Aristeu S

    2017-01-01

    Abstract. It is described in this article a Magnus Effect research done on Magnus Effect on Spinning Cylinders and how the Drag and Lift varies as the Cylinder increase or decrease its tangential velocity, as other properties, vorticity and structures of the flow as well.The final objective of this study is to use a Spinning Cylinder, with success, instead of a wing as the component responsible for lift force on a Micro Air Vehicle, with this purpose in mind, some simulations were done in ...

  9. Error analysis and assessment of unsteady forces acting on a flapping wing micro air vehicle: free flight versus wind-tunnel experimental methods.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Caetano, J V; Percin, M; van Oudheusden, B W; Remes, B; de Wagter, C; de Croon, G C H E; de Visser, C C

    2015-08-20

    An accurate knowledge of the unsteady aerodynamic forces acting on a bio-inspired, flapping-wing micro air vehicle (FWMAV) is crucial in the design development and optimization cycle. Two different types of experimental approaches are often used: determination of forces from position data obtained from external optical tracking during free flight, or direct measurements of forces by attaching the FWMAV to a force transducer in a wind-tunnel. This study compares the quality of the forces obtained from both methods as applied to a 17.4 gram FWMAV capable of controlled flight. A comprehensive analysis of various error sources is performed. The effects of different factors, e.g., measurement errors, error propagation, numerical differentiation, filtering frequency selection, and structural eigenmode interference, are assessed. For the forces obtained from free flight experiments it is shown that a data acquisition frequency below 200 Hz and an accuracy in the position measurements lower than ± 0.2 mm may considerably hinder determination of the unsteady forces. In general, the force component parallel to the fuselage determined by the two methods compares well for identical flight conditions; however, a significant difference was observed for the forces along the stroke plane of the wings. This was found to originate from the restrictions applied by the clamp to the dynamic oscillations observed in free flight and from the structural resonance of the clamped FWMAV structure, which generates loads that cannot be distinguished from the external forces. Furthermore, the clamping position was found to have a pronounced influence on the eigenmodes of the structure, and this effect should be taken into account for accurate force measurements.

  10. Experimental investigation of a quad-rotor biplane micro air vehicle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bogdanowicz, Christopher Michael

    Micro air vehicles are expected to perform demanding missions requiring efficient operation in both hover and forward flight. This thesis discusses the development of a hybrid air vehicle which seamlessly combines both flight capabilities: hover and high-speed forward flight. It is the quad-rotor biplane, which weighs 240 grams and consists of four propellers with wings arranged in a biplane configuration. The performance of the vehicle system was investigated in conditions representative of flight through a series of wind tunnel experiments. These studies provided an understanding of propeller-wing interaction effects and system trim analysis. This showed that the maximum speed of 11 m/s and a cruise speed of 4 m/s were achievable and that the cruise power is approximately one-third of the hover power. Free flight testing of the vehicle successfully highlighted its ability to achieve equilibrium transition flight. Key design parameters were experimentally investigated to understand their effect on overall performance. It was found that a trade-off between efficiency and compactness affects the final choice of the design. Design improvements have allowed for decreases in vehicle weight and ground footprint, while increasing structural soundness. Numerous vehicle designs, models, and flight tests have proven system scalability as well as versatility, including an upscaled model to be utilized in an extensive commercial package delivery system. Overall, the quad-rotor biplane is proven to be an efficient and effective multi-role vehicle.

  11. Aerodynamic improvement of a delta wing in combination with leading edge flaps

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tadateru Ishide

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Recently, various studies of micro air vehicle (MAV and unmanned air vehicle (UAV have been reported from wide range points of view. The aim of this study is to research the aerodynamic improvement of delta wing in low Reynold’s number region to develop an applicative these air vehicle. As an attractive tool in delta wing, leading edge flap (LEF is employed to directly modify the strength and structure of vortices originating from the separation point along the leading edge. Various configurations of LEF such as drooping apex flap and upward deflected flap are used in combination to enhance the aerodynamic characteristics in the delta wing. The fluid force measurement by six component load cell and particle image velocimetry (PIV analysis are performed as the experimental method. The relations between the aerodynamic superiority and the vortex behavior around the models are demonstrated.

  12. Comments on prospects of fully adaptive aircraft wings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Inman, Daniel J.; Gern, Frank H.; Robertshaw, Harry H.; Kapania, Rakesh K.; Pettit, Greg; Natarajan, Anand; Sulaeman, Erwin

    2001-06-01

    New generations of highly maneuverable aircraft, such as Uninhabited Combat Air Vehicles (UCAV) or Micro Air Vehicles (MAV) are likely to feature very flexible lifting surfaces. To enhance stealth properties and performance, the replacement of hinged control surfaces by smart wings and morphing airfoils is investigated. This requires a fundamental understanding of the interaction between aerodynamics, structures, and control systems. The goal is to build a model consistent with distributed control and to exercise this model to determine the progress possible in terms of flight control (lift, drag and maneuver performance) with an adaptive wing. Different modeling levels are examined and combined with a variety of distributed control approaches to determine what types of maneuvers and flight regimes may be possible. This paper describes the current progress of the project and highlights some recent findings.

  13. Modeling, design and optimization of flapping wings for efficient hovering flighth

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wang, Q.

    2017-01-01

    Inspired by insect flights, flapping wing micro air vehicles (FWMAVs) keep attracting attention from the scientific community. One of the design objectives is to reproduce the high power efficiency of insect flight. However, there is no clear answer yet to the question of how to design flapping

  14. The NRL MITE Air Vehicle

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Kellogg, James; Bovais, Christopher; Dahlburg, Jill; Foch, Richard; Gardner, John; Gordon, Diana; Hartley, Ralph; Kamgar-Parsi, Behrooz; McFarlane, Hugh; Pipitone, Frank; Ramamurti, Ravi; Sciambi, Adam; Spears, William; Srull, Donald; Sullivan, Carol

    2001-01-01

    .... The NRL Micro Tactical Expendable "MITE" air vehicle is a result of this research. The operational MITE is a hand-launched, dual-propeller, fixed-wing air vehicle, with a 9-inch chord and a wingspan of 8 to 18 inches, depending on payload weight...

  15. Repeatable Manufacture of Wings for Flapping Wing Micro Air Vehicles Using Microelectromechanical System (MEMS) Fabrication Techniques

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-03-01

    51 Figure 29: Original SU8 -on-titanium crude test moth wing and its ink-on-transparency mask...out of what materials the researchers could find, normally carbon fiber spars with a polymer membrane. Testing, while well-planned, was improvised...photoresist polymers from a controlled UV light exposure, in order to control which portions of the substrate remain masked from a given etchant

  16. Application of Piezoelectrics to Flapping-Wing MAVs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Widstrand, Alex; Hubner, J. Paul

    2015-11-01

    Micro air vehicles (MAVs) are a class of unmanned aerial vehicles that are size-restricted and operate at low velocities and low Reynolds numbers. An ongoing challenge with MAVs is that their flight-related operations are highly constrained by their size and weight, which limits battery size and, therefore, available power. One type of MAV called an ornithopter flies using flapping wings to create both lift and thrust, much like birds and insects do. Further bio-inspiration from bats led to the design of membrane wings for these vehicles, which provide aerodynamic benefits through passive vibration. In an attempt to capitalize on this vibration, a piezoelectric film, which generates a voltage when stressed, was investigated as the wing surface. Two wing planforms with constant area were designed and fabricated. The goal was to measure the wings' flight characteristics and output energy in freestream conditions. Complications with the flapper arose which prevented wind tunnel tests from being performed; however, energy data was obtained from table-top shaker tests. Preliminary results indicate that wing shape affects the magnitude of the charge generated, with a quarter-elliptic planform outperforming a rectangular planform. Funding provided by NSF REU Site Award number 1358991.

  17. Veins improve fracture toughness of insect wings.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jan-Henning Dirks

    Full Text Available During the lifetime of a flying insect, its wings are subjected to mechanical forces and deformations for millions of cycles. Defects in the micrometre thin membranes or veins may reduce the insect's flight performance. How do insects prevent crack related material failure in their wings and what role does the characteristic vein pattern play? Fracture toughness is a parameter, which characterises a material's resistance to crack propagation. Our results show that, compared to other body parts, the hind wing membrane of the migratory locust S. gregaria itself is not exceptionally tough (1.04±0.25 MPa√m. However, the cross veins increase the wing's toughness by 50% by acting as barriers to crack propagation. Using fracture mechanics, we show that the morphological spacing of most wing veins matches the critical crack length of the material (1132 µm. This finding directly demonstrates how the biomechanical properties and the morphology of locust wings are functionally correlated in locusts, providing a mechanically 'optimal' solution with high toughness and low weight. The vein pattern found in insect wings thus might inspire the design of more durable and lightweight artificial 'venous' wings for micro-air-vehicles. Using the vein spacing as indicator, our approach might also provide a basis to estimate the wing properties of endangered or extinct insect species.

  18. Precision Position Control of the DelFly II Flapping-wing Micro Air Vehicle in a Wind-tunnel

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Cunis, T.; Karasek, M.; de Croon, G.C.H.E.

    2016-01-01

    Flapping-wing MAVs represent an attractive alternative to conventional designs with rotary wings, since they promise a much higher efficiency in forward flight. However, further insight into the flapping-wing aerodynamics is still needed to get closer to the flight performance observed in natural

  19. Optimization of aerodynamic efficiency for twist morphing MAV wing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    N.I. Ismail

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Twist morphing (TM is a practical control technique in micro air vehicle (MAV flight. However, TM wing has a lower aerodynamic efficiency (CL/CD compared to membrane and rigid wing. This is due to massive drag penalty created on TM wing, which had overwhelmed the successive increase in its lift generation. Therefore, further CL/CDmax optimization on TM wing is needed to obtain the optimal condition for the morphing wing configuration. In this paper, two-way fluid–structure interaction (FSI simulation and wind tunnel testing method are used to solve and study the basic wing aerodynamic performance over (non-optimal TM, membrane and rigid wings. Then, a multifidelity data metamodel based design optimization (MBDO process is adopted based on the Ansys-DesignXplorer frameworks. In the adaptive MBDO process, Kriging metamodel is used to construct the final multifidelity CL/CD responses by utilizing 23 multi-fidelity sample points from the FSI simulation and experimental data. The optimization results show that the optimal TM wing configuration is able to produce better CL/CDmax magnitude by at least 2% than the non-optimal TM wings. The flow structure formation reveals that low TV strength on the optimal TM wing induces low CD generation which in turn improves its overall CL/CDmax performance.

  20. Differential pressure distribution measurement for the development of insect-sized wings

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Takahashi, Hidetoshi; Matsumoto, Kiyoshi; Shimoyama, Isao

    2013-01-01

    This paper reports on the measurement of the differential pressure distribution over a flat, thin wing using a micro-electro-mechanical systems sensor. Sensors featuring a piezoresistive cantilever were attached to a polyimide/Cu wing. Because the weight of the cantilever element was less than 10 ng, the sensor can measure the differential pressure without interference from inertial forces, such as wing flapping motions. The dimensions of the sensor chips and the wing were 1.0 mm × 1.0 mm × 0.3 mm and 100 mm × 30 mm × 1 mm, respectively. The differential pressure distribution along the wing's chord direction was measured in a wind tunnel at an air velocity of 4.0 m s –1 by changing the angle of attack. It was confirmed that the pressure coefficient calculated by the measured differential pressure distribution was similar to the value measured by a load cell. (paper)

  1. A novel mechanism for emulating insect wing kinematics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Seshadri, Pranay; Benedict, Moble; Chopra, Inderjit

    2012-01-01

    A novel dual-differential four-bar flapping mechanism that can accurately emulate insect wing kinematics in all three degrees of freedom (translation, rotation and stroke plane deviation) is developed. The mechanism is specifically designed to be simple and scalable such that it can be utilized on an insect-based flapping wing micro air vehicle. Kinematic formulations for the wing stroke position, pitch angle and coning angle for this model are derived from first principles and compared with a 3D simulation. A benchtop flapping mechanism based on this model was designed and built, which was also equipped with a balance for force measurements. 3D motion capture tests were conducted on this setup to demonstrate the capability of generating complex figure-of-eight flapping motions along with dynamic pitching. The dual-differential four-bar mechanism was implemented on a light-weight vehicle that demonstrated tethered hover. (paper)

  2. Phasing of dragonfly wings can improve aerodynamic efficiency by removing swirl.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Usherwood, James R; Lehmann, Fritz-Olaf

    2008-11-06

    Dragonflies are dramatic, successful aerial predators, notable for their flight agility and endurance. Further, they are highly capable of low-speed, hovering and even backwards flight. While insects have repeatedly modified or reduced one pair of wings, or mechanically coupled their fore and hind wings, dragonflies and damselflies have maintained their distinctive, independently controllable, four-winged form for over 300Myr. Despite efforts at understanding the implications of flapping flight with two pairs of wings, previous studies have generally painted a rather disappointing picture: interaction between fore and hind wings reduces the lift compared with two pairs of wings operating in isolation. Here, we demonstrate with a mechanical model dragonfly that, despite presenting no advantage in terms of lift, flying with two pairs of wings can be highly effective at improving aerodynamic efficiency. This is achieved by recovering energy from the wake wasted as swirl in a manner analogous to coaxial contra-rotating helicopter rotors. With the appropriate fore-hind wing phasing, aerodynamic power requirements can be reduced up to 22 per cent compared with a single pair of wings, indicating one advantage of four-winged flying that may apply to both dragonflies and, in the future, biomimetic micro air vehicles.

  3. Deformation behavior of dragonfly-inspired nodus structured wing in gliding flight through experimental visualization approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Sheng; Sunami, Yuta; Hashimoto, Hiromu

    2018-04-10

    Dragonfly has excellent flight performance and maneuverability due to the complex vein structure of wing. In this research, nodus as an important structural element of the dragonfly wing is investigated through an experimental visualization approach. Three vein structures were fabricated as, open-nodus structure, closed-nodus structure (with a flex-limiter) and rigid wing. The samples were conducted in a wind tunnel with a high speed camera to visualize the deformation of wing structure in order to study the function of nodus structured wing in gliding flight. According to the experimental results, nodus has a great influence on the flexibility of the wing structure. Moreover, the closed-nodus wing (with a flex-limiter) enables the vein structure to be flexible without losing the strength and rigidity of the joint. These findings enhance the knowledge of insect-inspired nodus structured wing and facilitate the application of Micro Air Vehicle (MAV) in gliding flight.

  4. Vortexlet models of flapping flexible wings show tuning for force production and control

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mountcastle, A M; Daniel, T L

    2010-01-01

    Insect wings are compliant structures that experience deformations during flight. Such deformations have recently been shown to substantially affect induced flows, with appreciable consequences to flight forces. However, there are open questions related to the aerodynamic mechanisms underlying the performance benefits of wing deformation, as well as the extent to which such deformations are determined by the boundary conditions governing wing actuation together with mechanical properties of the wing itself. Here we explore aerodynamic performance parameters of compliant wings under periodic oscillations, subject to changes in phase between wing elevation and pitch, and magnitude and spatial pattern of wing flexural stiffness. We use a combination of computational structural mechanics models and a 2D computational fluid dynamics approach to ask how aerodynamic force production and control potential are affected by pitch/elevation phase and variations in wing flexural stiffness. Our results show that lift and thrust forces are highly sensitive to flexural stiffness distributions, with performance optima that lie in different phase regions. These results suggest a control strategy for both flying animals and engineering applications of micro-air vehicles.

  5. Design and Performance of Insect-Scale Flapping-Wing Vehicles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Whitney, John Peter

    Micro-air vehicles (MAVs)---small versions of full-scale aircraft---are the product of a continued path of miniaturization which extends across many fields of engineering. Increasingly, MAVs approach the scale of small birds, and most recently, their sizes have dipped into the realm of hummingbirds and flying insects. However, these non-traditional biologically-inspired designs are without well-established design methods, and manufacturing complex devices at these tiny scales is not feasible using conventional manufacturing methods. This thesis presents a comprehensive investigation of new MAV design and manufacturing methods, as applicable to insect-scale hovering flight. New design methods combine an energy-based accounting of propulsion and aerodynamics with a one degree-of-freedom dynamic flapping model. Important results include analytical expressions for maximum flight endurance and range, and predictions for maximum feasible wing size and body mass. To meet manufacturing constraints, the use of passive wing dynamics to simplify vehicle design and control was investigated; supporting tests included the first synchronized measurements of real-time forces and three-dimensional kinematics generated by insect-scale flapping wings. These experimental methods were then expanded to study optimal wing shapes and high-efficiency flapping kinematics. To support the development of high-fidelity test devices and fully-functional flight hardware, a new class of manufacturing methods was developed, combining elements of rigid-flex printed circuit board fabrication with "pop-up book" folding mechanisms. In addition to their current and future support of insect-scale MAV development, these new manufacturing techniques are likely to prove an essential element to future advances in micro-optomechanics, micro-surgery, and many other fields.

  6. The micro dynamics of agency: Repetition and subversion in a Mexican right-wing female politician's life story

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Davids, T.

    2011-01-01

    This article analyses the micro dynamics of agency represented in the life story of a Mexican right-wing female politician - particularly how agency manifests itself in the way she repeats the rhetorical structures of her party's discourse. Although claiming to be a modern woman, a high ranking

  7. Fixed Wing Project: Technologies for Advanced Air Transports

    Science.gov (United States)

    Del Rosario, Ruben; Koudelka, John M.; Wahls, Richard A.; Madavan, Nateri

    2014-01-01

    The NASA Fundamental Aeronautics Fixed Wing (FW) Project addresses the comprehensive challenge of enabling revolutionary energy efficiency improvements in subsonic transport aircraft combined with dramatic reductions in harmful emissions and perceived noise to facilitate sustained growth of the air transportation system. Advanced technologies and the development of unconventional aircraft systems offer the potential to achieve these improvements. Multidisciplinary advances are required in aerodynamic efficiency to reduce drag, structural efficiency to reduce aircraft empty weight, and propulsive and thermal efficiency to reduce thrust-specific energy consumption (TSEC) for overall system benefit. Additionally, advances are required to reduce perceived noise without adversely affecting drag, weight, or TSEC, and to reduce harmful emissions without adversely affecting energy efficiency or noise.The presentation will highlight the Fixed Wing project vision of revolutionary systems and technologies needed to achieve these challenging goals. Specifically, the primary focus of the FW Project is on the N+3 generation; that is, vehicles that are three generations beyond the current state of the art, requiring mature technology solutions in the 2025-30 timeframe.

  8. Design and testing of shape memory alloy actuation mechanism for flapping wing micro unmanned aerial vehicles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kamaruzaman, N. F.; Abdullah, E. J.

    2017-12-01

    Shape memory alloy (SMA) actuator offers great solution for aerospace applications with low weight being its most attractive feature. A SMA actuation mechanism for the flapping micro unmanned aerial vehicle (MAV) is proposed in this study, where SMA material is the primary system that provides the flapping motion to the wings. Based on several established design criteria, a design prototype has been fabricated to validate the design. As a proof of concept, an experiment is performed using an electrical circuit to power the SMA actuator to evaluate the flapping angle. During testing, several problems have been observed and their solutions for future development are proposed. Based on the experiment, the average recorded flapping wing angle is 14.33° for upward deflection and 12.12° for downward deflection. This meets the required design criteria and objective set forth for this design. The results prove the feasibility of employing SMA actuators in flapping wing MAV.

  9. Conceptual Study of Rotary-Wing Microrobotics

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Chabak, Kelson D

    2008-01-01

    This thesis presents a novel rotary-wing micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) robot design. Two MEMS wing designs were designed, fabricated and tested including one that possesses features conducive to insect level aerodynamics...

  10. Dipteran wing motor-inspired flapping flight versatility and effectiveness enhancement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harne, R L; Wang, K W

    2015-03-06

    Insects are a prime source of inspiration towards the development of small-scale, engineered, flapping wing flight systems. To help interpret the possible energy transformation strategies observed in Diptera as inspiration for mechanical flapping flight systems, we revisit the perspective of the dipteran wing motor as a bistable click mechanism and take a new, and more flexible, outlook to the architectural composition previously considered. Using a representative structural model alongside biological insights and cues from nonlinear dynamics, our analyses and experimental results reveal that a flight mechanism able to adjust motor axial support stiffness and compression characteristics may dramatically modulate the amplitude range and type of wing stroke dynamics achievable. This corresponds to significantly more versatile aerodynamic force generation without otherwise changing flapping frequency or driving force amplitude. Whether monostable or bistable, the axial stiffness is key to enhance compressed motor load bearing ability and aerodynamic efficiency, particularly compared with uncompressed linear motors. These findings provide new foundation to guide future development of bioinspired, flapping wing mechanisms for micro air vehicle applications, and may be used to provide insight to the dipteran muscle-to-wing interface. © 2015 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

  11. Characterisation and expression of microRNAs in developing wings of the neotropical butterfly Heliconius melpomene

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rathjen Tina

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Heliconius butterflies are an excellent system for studies of adaptive convergent and divergent phenotypic traits. Wing colour patterns are used as signals to both predators and potential mates and are inherited in a Mendelian manner. The underlying genetic mechanisms of pattern formation have been studied for many years and shed light on broad issues, such as the repeatability of evolution. In Heliconius melpomene, the yellow hindwing bar is controlled by the HmYb locus. MicroRNAs (miRNAs are important post-transcriptional regulators of gene expression that have key roles in many biological processes, including development. miRNAs could act as regulators of genes involved in wing development, patterning and pigmentation. For this reason we characterised miRNAs in developing butterfly wings and examined differences in their expression between colour pattern races. Results We sequenced small RNA libraries from two colour pattern races and detected 142 Heliconius miRNAs with homology to others found in miRBase. Several highly abundant miRNAs were differentially represented in the libraries between colour pattern races. These candidates were tested further using Northern blots, showing that differences in expression were primarily due to developmental stage rather than colour pattern. Assembly of sequenced reads to the HmYb region identified hme-miR-193 and hme-miR-2788; located 2380 bp apart in an intergenic region. These two miRNAs are expressed in wings and show an upregulation between 24 and 72 hours post-pupation, indicating a potential role in butterfly wing development. A search for miRNAs in all available H. melpomene BAC sequences (~ 2.5 Mb did not reveal any other miRNAs and no novel miRNAs were predicted. Conclusions Here we describe the first butterfly miRNAs and characterise their expression in developing wings. Some show differences in expression across developing pupal stages and may have important functions in

  12. Characterisation and expression of microRNAs in developing wings of the neotropical butterfly Heliconius melpomene.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Surridge, Alison K; Lopez-Gomollon, Sara; Moxon, Simon; Maroja, Luana S; Rathjen, Tina; Nadeau, Nicola J; Dalmay, Tamas; Jiggins, Chris D

    2011-01-26

    Heliconius butterflies are an excellent system for studies of adaptive convergent and divergent phenotypic traits. Wing colour patterns are used as signals to both predators and potential mates and are inherited in a Mendelian manner. The underlying genetic mechanisms of pattern formation have been studied for many years and shed light on broad issues, such as the repeatability of evolution. In Heliconius melpomene, the yellow hindwing bar is controlled by the HmYb locus. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are important post-transcriptional regulators of gene expression that have key roles in many biological processes, including development. miRNAs could act as regulators of genes involved in wing development, patterning and pigmentation. For this reason we characterised miRNAs in developing butterfly wings and examined differences in their expression between colour pattern races. We sequenced small RNA libraries from two colour pattern races and detected 142 Heliconius miRNAs with homology to others found in miRBase. Several highly abundant miRNAs were differentially represented in the libraries between colour pattern races. These candidates were tested further using Northern blots, showing that differences in expression were primarily due to developmental stage rather than colour pattern. Assembly of sequenced reads to the HmYb region identified hme-miR-193 and hme-miR-2788; located 2380 bp apart in an intergenic region. These two miRNAs are expressed in wings and show an upregulation between 24 and 72 hours post-pupation, indicating a potential role in butterfly wing development. A search for miRNAs in all available H. melpomene BAC sequences (~2.5 Mb) did not reveal any other miRNAs and no novel miRNAs were predicted. Here we describe the first butterfly miRNAs and characterise their expression in developing wings. Some show differences in expression across developing pupal stages and may have important functions in butterfly wing development. Two miRNAs were located in the Hm

  13. Micro-jet Cooling by Compressed Air after MAG Welding

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Węgrzyn T.

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available The material selected for this investigation was low alloy steel weld metal deposit (WMD after MAG welding with micro-jet cooling. The present investigation was aimed as the following tasks: analyze impact toughness of WMD in terms of micro-jet cooling parameters. Weld metal deposit (WMD was first time carried out for MAG welding with micro-jet cooling of compressed air and gas mixture of argon and air. Until that moment only argon, helium and nitrogen and its gas mixture were tested for micro-jet cooling.

  14. Identification of Novel and Conserved microRNAs in Homalodisca vitripennis, the Glassy-Winged Sharpshooter by Expression Profiling.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Raja Sekhar Nandety

    Full Text Available The glassy-winged sharpshooter (GWSS Homalodisca vitripennis (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae, is a xylem-feeding leafhopper and an important vector of the bacterium Xylella fastidiosa; the causal agent of Pierce's disease of grapevines. MicroRNAs are a class of small RNAs that play an important role in the functional development of various organisms including insects. In H. vitripennis, we identified microRNAs using high-throughput deep sequencing of adults followed by computational and manual annotation. A total of 14 novel microRNAs that are not found in the miRBase were identified from adult H. vitripennis. Conserved microRNAs were also found in our datasets. By comparison to our previously determined transcriptome sequence of H. vitripennis, we identified the potential targets of the microRNAs in the transcriptome. This microRNA profile information not only provides a more nuanced understanding of the biological and physiological mechanisms that govern gene expression in H. vitripennis, but may also lead to the identification of novel mechanisms for biorationally designed management strategies through the use of microRNAs.

  15. A wind tunnel investigation of the effects of micro-vortex generators and Gurney flaps on the high-lift characteristics of a business jet wing. M.S. Thesis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martuccio, Michelle Therese

    1994-01-01

    A study of a full-scale, semi-span business jet wing has been conducted to investigate the potential of two types of high-lift devices for improving aircraft high-lift performance. The research effort involved low-speed wind-tunnel tests of micro-vortex generators and Gurney flaps applied to the flap system of the business jet wing and included force and moment measurements, surface pressure surveys and flow visualization on the wing and flap. Results showed that the micro-vortex generators tested had no beneficial effects on the longitudinal force characteristics in this particular application, while the Gurney flaps were an effective means of increasing lift. However, the Gurney flaps also caused an increase in drag in most circumstances.

  16. Understanding the unsteady aerodynamics of a revolving wing with pitching-flapping perturbations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Long; Wu, Jianghao; Zhou, Chao; Hsu, Shih-Jung; Eslam Panah, Azar; Cheng, Bo

    2017-11-01

    Revolving wings become less efficient for lift generation at low Reynolds numbers. Unlike flying insects using reciprocating revolving wings to exploit unsteady mechanisms for lift enhancement, an alternative that introduces unsteadiness through vertical flapping perturbation, is studied via experiments and simulations. Substantial drag reduction, linearly dependent on Strouhal number, is observed for a flapping-perturbed revolving wing at zero angle of attack (AoA), which can be explained by changes in the effective angle of attack and formation of reverse Karman vortex streets. When the AoA increases, flapping perturbations improve the maximum lift coefficient attainable by the revolving wing, with minor increases of drag or even minor drag reductions depending on Strouhal number and normalized flapping amplitude. When the pitching perturbations are further introduced, more substantial drag reduction and lift enhancement can be achieved in zero and positive AoAs, respectively. As the flapping-perturbed wings are less efficient compared with revolving wings in terms of power loading, the pitching-flapping perturbations can achieve a higher power loading at 20°AoA and thus have potential applications in micro air vehicle designs. This research was supported by NSF, DURIP, NSFC and Penn State Multi-Campus SEED Grant.

  17. Micro-jet Cooling by Compressed Air after MAG Welding

    OpenAIRE

    Węgrzyn T.; Piwnik J.; Tarasiuk W.; Stanik Z.; Gabrylewski M.

    2016-01-01

    The material selected for this investigation was low alloy steel weld metal deposit (WMD) after MAG welding with micro-jet cooling. The present investigation was aimed as the following tasks: analyze impact toughness of WMD in terms of micro-jet cooling parameters. Weld metal deposit (WMD) was first time carried out for MAG welding with micro-jet cooling of compressed air and gas mixture of argon and air. Until that moment only argon, helium and nitrogen and its gas mixture were tested for mi...

  18. microRNAs: Implications for air pollution research

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jardim, Melanie J.

    2011-01-01

    The purpose of this review is to provide an update of the current understanding on the role of microRNAs in mediating genetic responses to air pollutants and to contemplate on how these responses ultimately control susceptibility to ambient air pollution. Morbidity and mortality attributable to air pollution continues to be a growing public health concern worldwide. Despite several studies on the health effects of ambient air pollution, underlying molecular mechanisms of susceptibility and disease remain elusive. In the last several years, special attention has been given to the role of epigenetics in mediating, not only genetic and physiological responses to certain environmental insults, but also in regulating underlying susceptibility to environmental stressors. Epigenetic mechanisms control the expression of gene products, both basally and as a response to a perturbation, without affecting the sequence of DNA itself. These mechanisms include structural regulation of the chromatin structure, such as DNA methylation and histone modifications, and post-transcriptional gene regulation, such as microRNA mediated repression of gene expression. microRNAs are small noncoding RNAs that have been quickly established as key regulators of gene expression. As such, miRNAs have been found to control several cellular processes including apoptosis, proliferation and differentiation. More recently, research has emerged suggesting that changes in the expression of some miRNAs may be critical for mediating biological, and ultimately physiological, responses to air pollutants. Although the study of microRNAs, and epigenetics as a whole, has come quite far in the field of cancer, the understanding of how these mechanisms regulate gene–environment interactions to environmental exposures in everyday life is unclear. This article does not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the US EPA.

  19. microRNAs: Implications for air pollution research

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jardim, Melanie J., E-mail: melaniejardim@gmail.com [Environmental Public Health Division, National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, United States Environmental Protection Agency, Chapel Hill, NC (United States)

    2011-12-01

    The purpose of this review is to provide an update of the current understanding on the role of microRNAs in mediating genetic responses to air pollutants and to contemplate on how these responses ultimately control susceptibility to ambient air pollution. Morbidity and mortality attributable to air pollution continues to be a growing public health concern worldwide. Despite several studies on the health effects of ambient air pollution, underlying molecular mechanisms of susceptibility and disease remain elusive. In the last several years, special attention has been given to the role of epigenetics in mediating, not only genetic and physiological responses to certain environmental insults, but also in regulating underlying susceptibility to environmental stressors. Epigenetic mechanisms control the expression of gene products, both basally and as a response to a perturbation, without affecting the sequence of DNA itself. These mechanisms include structural regulation of the chromatin structure, such as DNA methylation and histone modifications, and post-transcriptional gene regulation, such as microRNA mediated repression of gene expression. microRNAs are small noncoding RNAs that have been quickly established as key regulators of gene expression. As such, miRNAs have been found to control several cellular processes including apoptosis, proliferation and differentiation. More recently, research has emerged suggesting that changes in the expression of some miRNAs may be critical for mediating biological, and ultimately physiological, responses to air pollutants. Although the study of microRNAs, and epigenetics as a whole, has come quite far in the field of cancer, the understanding of how these mechanisms regulate gene-environment interactions to environmental exposures in everyday life is unclear. This article does not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the US EPA.

  20. The hydraulic mechanism in the hind wing veins of Cybister japonicus Sharp (order: Coleoptera

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jiyu Sun

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available The diving beetles (Dytiscidae, Coleoptera are families of water beetles. When they see light, they fly to the light source directly from the water. Their hind wings are thin and fragile under the protection of their elytra (forewings. When the beetle is at rest the hind wings are folded over the abdomen of the beetle and when in flight they unfold to provide the necessary aerodynamic forces. In this paper, the unfolding process of the hind wing of Cybister japonicus Sharp (order: Coleoptera was investigated. The motion characteristics of the blood in the veins of the structure system show that the veins have microfluidic control over the hydraulic mechanism of the unfolding process. A model is established, and the hind wing extending process is simulated. The blood flow and pressure changes are discussed. The driving mechanism for hydraulic control of the folding and unfolding actions of beetle hind wings is put forward. This can assist the design of new deployable micro air vehicles and bioinspired deployable systems.

  1. Exploring structural colour in uni- and multi-coloured butterfly wings and Ag+ uptake by scales

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aideo, Swati N.; Haloi, Rajib; Mohanta, Dambarudhar

    2017-09-01

    We discuss the origin of the structural colour of different butterfly wings in the light of the typical built-in microstructural arrangement of scales that are comprised of chitin-melanin layer and air-gaps. Three specimens of butterfly wings namely, Papilio Liomedon (black), Catopsilia Pyranthe (light green) and Vanessa Cardui (multi-coloured) were chosen and diffuse reflectance characteristics have been aquired for normal incidence of p-polarized light. Moreover, the time-dependent uptake of Ag+ into scales has led to swelling and spread of the chitinous ridges and ribs, with revelation of micro-beads in Catopsilia Pyranthe specimen. The reduction of the number of air-gaps between any two parallel ridges is attributed to the merging of adjacent gaps possessing a common boundary. The availability of Ag at the centre of a chosen ridge, for every wing type, follows an exponential growing trend, ∼e0.36t . Precise inclusion of nanoscale metals into natural photonic systems would provide new insight, while applying principles of photonics and plasmonics simultaneously.

  2. Design and fabrication of a micro zinc/air battery

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fu, L; Luo, J K; Huber, J E; Lu, T J

    2006-01-01

    Micro-batteries are one of the key components that restrict the application of autonomous Microsystems. However little efforts were made to solve the problem. We have proposed a new planar zinc/air micro-battery, suitable for autonomous microsystem applications. The micro-battery has a layered structure of zinc electrode/alkaline electrolyte/air cathode. A 3D zinc electrode with a high density of posts was designed to obtain a high porosity, hence to offer a best performance. A model of the micro-battery is developed and the device performances were simulated and discussed. A four-mask process was developed to fabricate the prototype micro-batteries. The preliminary testing results showed the micro-batteries is able to deliver a maximum power up to 5 mW, and with an average power of 100 μW at a steady period for up to 2hrs. Fabrication process is still under optimization for further improvement

  3. In-air micro-pixe analysis of tissue samples

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tanaka, A.; Ishii, K.; Komori, Y.

    2002-01-01

    Micro-PIXE is capable of providing spatial distributions of elements in the micro-meter scale and its application to biology is useful to elucidate the cellular metabolism. Since, in this method, a sample target is usually irradiated with proton or α-particle beams in vacuum, beam heating results in evaporation of volatile elements an shrinking of the sample. In order to avoid these side effects, we previously developed a technique of in-air micro-PIXE analysis for samples of cultured cells. In addition to these, analysis of exposed tissue samples from living subjects is highly desirable in biological and medical research. Here, we describe a technique of in-air micro-PIXE analysis of such tissue samples. The target samples of exposed tissue slices from a Donryu rat, in which a tumor had been transplanted, were analyzed with proton micro-beams of 2.6 MeV. We report that the shape of cells and the distribution of volatile elements in the tissue sample remain uncharged when using a target preparation based on a freeze-drying method. (author)

  4. Evaluation of the Thorax of Manduca Sexta for Flapping Wing Micro Air Vehicle Applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-12-01

    subject to the effects of low Reynolds number flight. These effects extend from wind gusts to unstable aerodynamic flow and viscous dominated flow (Shyy...operate as a mechanical spring damper at resonance during flapping flight (Bolsman 2010). For wing actuation, the M.sexta has two fairly simple and...freshly eclosed moth a surface to climb up, which is an absolute necessity. The moth must climb off of the ground in order to pump fluids through

  5. Flow field of flexible flapping wings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sallstrom, Erik

    The agility and maneuverability of natural fliers would be desirable to incorporate into engineered micro air vehicles (MAVs). However, there is still much for engineers to learn about flapping flight in order to understand how such vehicles can be built for efficient flying. The goal of this study is to develop a methodology for capturing high quality flow field data around flexible flapping wings in a hover environment and to interpret it to gain a better understanding of how aerodynamic forces are generated. The flow field data was captured using particle image velocimetry (PIV) and required that measurements be taken around a repeatable flapping motion to obtain phase-averaged data that could be studied throughout the flapping cycle. Therefore, the study includes the development of flapping devices with a simple repeatable single degree of freedom flapping motion. The acquired flow field data has been examined qualitatively and quantitatively to investigate the mechanisms behind force production in hovering flight and to relate it to observations in previous research. Specifically, the flow fields have been investigated around a rigid wing and several carbon fiber reinforced flexible membrane wings. Throughout the whole study the wings were actuated with either a sinusoidal or a semi-linear flapping motion. The semi-linear flapping motion holds the commanded angular velocity nearly constant through half of each half-stroke while the sinusoidal motion is always either accelerating or decelerating. The flow fields were investigated by examining vorticity and vortex structures, using the Q criterion as the definition for the latter, in two and three dimensions. The measurements were combined with wing deflection measurements to demonstrate some of the key links in how the fluid-structure interactions generated aerodynamic forces. The flow fields were also used to calculate the forces generated by the flapping wings using momentum balance methods which yielded

  6. Local elasticity and adhesion of nanostructures on Drosophila melanogaster wing membrane studied using atomic force microscopy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wagner, Ryan, E-mail: rbwagner@purdue.edu [School of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette (United States); Brick Nanotechnology Center, Purdue University, West Lafayette (United States); Pittendrigh, Barry R. [Department of Entomology, University of Illinois, Champaign (United States); Raman, Arvind, E-mail: raman@purdue.edu [School of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette (United States); Brick Nanotechnology Center, Purdue University, West Lafayette (United States)

    2012-10-15

    Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer We studied the wing membrane of Drosophila melanogaster with atomic force microscopy. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer We report the structure, elasticity, and adhesion on the wing membrane in air and nitrogen environments. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Results provide insight into the nature of the wing membrane enabling the development of biomimetic surface and micro air vehicles. - Abstract: Insect wings have a naturally occurring, complex, functional, hierarchical microstructure and nanostructure, which enable a remarkably water-resistant and self-cleaning surface. Insect wings are used as a basis for engineering biomimetic materials; however, the material properties of these nanostructures such as local elastic modulus and adhesion are poorly understood. We studied the wings of the Canton-S strain of Drosophila melanogaster (hereafter referred to as Drosophila) with atomic force microscopy (AFM) to quantify the local material properties of Drosophila wing surface nanostructures. The wings are found to have a hierarchical structure of 10-20 {mu}m long, 0.5-1 {mu}m diameter hair, and at a much smaller scale, 100 nm diameter and 30-60 nm high bumps. The local properties of these nanoscale bumps were studied under ambient and dry conditions with force-volume AFM. The wing membrane was found to have a elastic modulus on the order of 1000 MPa and the work of adhesion between the probe and wing membrane surface was found to be on the order of 100 mJ/m{sup 2}, these properties are the same order of magnitude as common thermoplastic polymers such as polyethylene. The difference in work of adhesion between the nanoscale bump and membrane does not change significantly between ambient (relative humidity of 30%) or dry conditions. This suggests that the nanoscale bumps and the surrounding membrane are chemically similar and only work to increase hydrophobicity though surface roughening or the geometric lotus effect.

  7. Local elasticity and adhesion of nanostructures on Drosophila melanogaster wing membrane studied using atomic force microscopy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wagner, Ryan; Pittendrigh, Barry R.; Raman, Arvind

    2012-01-01

    Highlights: ► We studied the wing membrane of Drosophila melanogaster with atomic force microscopy. ► We report the structure, elasticity, and adhesion on the wing membrane in air and nitrogen environments. ► Results provide insight into the nature of the wing membrane enabling the development of biomimetic surface and micro air vehicles. - Abstract: Insect wings have a naturally occurring, complex, functional, hierarchical microstructure and nanostructure, which enable a remarkably water-resistant and self-cleaning surface. Insect wings are used as a basis for engineering biomimetic materials; however, the material properties of these nanostructures such as local elastic modulus and adhesion are poorly understood. We studied the wings of the Canton-S strain of Drosophila melanogaster (hereafter referred to as Drosophila) with atomic force microscopy (AFM) to quantify the local material properties of Drosophila wing surface nanostructures. The wings are found to have a hierarchical structure of 10–20 μm long, 0.5–1 μm diameter hair, and at a much smaller scale, 100 nm diameter and 30–60 nm high bumps. The local properties of these nanoscale bumps were studied under ambient and dry conditions with force-volume AFM. The wing membrane was found to have a elastic modulus on the order of 1000 MPa and the work of adhesion between the probe and wing membrane surface was found to be on the order of 100 mJ/m 2 , these properties are the same order of magnitude as common thermoplastic polymers such as polyethylene. The difference in work of adhesion between the nanoscale bump and membrane does not change significantly between ambient (relative humidity of 30%) or dry conditions. This suggests that the nanoscale bumps and the surrounding membrane are chemically similar and only work to increase hydrophobicity though surface roughening or the geometric lotus effect.

  8. The DelFly design, aerodynamics, and artificial intelligence of a flapping wing robot

    CERN Document Server

    de Croon, G C H E; Remes, B D W; Ruijsink, R; De Wagter, C

    2016-01-01

    This book introduces the topics most relevant to autonomously flying flapping wing robots: flapping-wing design, aerodynamics, and artificial intelligence. Readers can explore these topics in the context of the "Delfly", a flapping wing robot designed at Delft University in The Netherlands. How are tiny fruit flies able to lift their weight, avoid obstacles and predators, and find food or shelter? The first step in emulating this is the creation of a micro flapping wing robot that flies by itself. The challenges are considerable: the design and aerodynamics of flapping wings are still active areas of scientific research, whilst artificial intelligence is subject to extreme limitations deriving from the few sensors and minimal processing onboard. This book conveys the essential insights that lie behind success such as the DelFly Micro and the DelFly Explorer. The DelFly Micro, with its 3.07 grams and 10 cm wing span, is still the smallest flapping wing MAV in the world carrying a camera, whilst the DelFly Expl...

  9. Flow structures around a flapping wing considering ground effect

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van Truong, Tien; Kim, Jihoon; Kim, Min Jun; Park, Hoon Cheol; Yoon, Kwang Joon; Byun, Doyoung

    2013-07-01

    Over the past several decades, there has been great interest in understanding the aerodynamics of flapping flight, namely the two flight modes of hovering and forward flight. However, there has been little focus on the aerodynamic characteristics during takeoff of insects. In a previous study we found that the Rhinoceros Beetle ( Trypoxylusdichotomus) takes off without jumping, which is uncommon for other insects. In this study we built a scaled-up electromechanical model of a flapping wing and investigated fluid flow around the beetle's wing model. In particular, the present dynamically scaled mechanical model has the wing kinematics pattern achieved from the real beetle's wing kinematics during takeoff. In addition, we could systematically change the three-dimensional inclined motion of the flapping model through each stroke. We used digital particle image velocimetry with high spatial resolution, and were able to qualitatively and quantitatively study the flow field around the wing at a Reynolds number of approximately 10,000. The present results provide insight into the aerodynamics and the evolution of vortical structures, as well as the ground effect experienced by a beetle's wing during takeoff. The main unsteady mechanisms of beetles have been identified and intensively analyzed as the stability of the leading edge vortex (LEV) during strokes, the delayed stall during upstroke, the rotational circulation in pronation periods, and wake capture in supination periods. Due to the ground effect, the LEV was enhanced during half downstroke, and the lift force could thus be increased to lift the beetle during takeoff. This is useful for researchers in developing a micro air vehicle that has a beetle-like flapping wing motion.

  10. Quantification of wing and body kinematics in connection to torque generation during damselfly yaw turn

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zeyghami, Samane; Bode-Oke, Ayodeji T.; Dong, HaiBo

    2017-01-01

    This study provides accurate measurements of the wing and body kinematics of three different species of damselflies in free yaw turn flights. The yaw turn is characterized by a short acceleration phase which is immediately followed by an elongated deceleration phase. Most of the heading change takes place during the latter stage of the flight. Our observations showed that yaw turns are executed via drastic rather than subtle changes in the kinematics of all four wings. The motion of the inner and outer wings were found to be strongly linked through their orientation as well as their velocities with the inner wings moving faster than the outer wings. By controlling the pitch angle and wing velocity, a damselfly adjusts the angle of attack. The wing angle of attack exerted the strongest influence on the yaw torque, followed by the flapping and deviation velocities of the wings. Moreover, no evidence of active generation of counter torque was found in the flight data implying that deceleration and stopping of the maneuver is dominated by passive damping. The systematic analysis carried out on the free flight data advances our understanding of the mechanisms by which these insects achieve their observed maneuverability. In addition, the inspiration drawn from this study can be employed in the design of low frequency flapping wing micro air vehicles (MAV's).

  11. Beneficial aerodynamic effect of wing scales on the climbing flight of butterflies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Slegers, Nathan; Heilman, Michael; Cranford, Jacob; Lang, Amy; Yoder, John; Habegger, Maria Laura

    2017-01-30

    It is hypothesized that butterfly wing scale geometry and surface patterning may function to improve aerodynamic efficiency. In order to investigate this hypothesis, a method to measure butterfly flapping kinematics optically over long uninhibited flapping sequences was developed. Statistical results for the climbing flight flapping kinematics of 11 butterflies, based on a total of 236 individual flights, both with and without their wing scales, are presented. Results show, that for each of the 11 butterflies, the mean climbing efficiency decreased after scales were removed. Data was reduced to a single set of differences of climbing efficiency using are paired t-test. Results show a mean decrease in climbing efficiency of 32.2% occurred with a 95% confidence interval of 45.6%-18.8%. Similar analysis showed that the flapping amplitude decreased by 7% while the flapping frequency did not show a significant difference. Results provide strong evidence that butterfly wing scale geometry and surface patterning improve butterfly climbing efficiency. The authors hypothesize that the wing scale's effect in measured climbing efficiency may be due to an improved aerodynamic efficiency of the butterfly and could similarly be used on flapping wing micro air vehicles to potentially achieve similar gains in efficiency.

  12. Aerodynamic efficiency of a bioinspired flapping wing rotor at low Reynolds number.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, H; Guo, S

    2018-03-01

    This study investigates the aerodynamic efficiency of a bioinspired flapping wing rotor kinematics which combines an active vertical flapping motion and a passive horizontal rotation induced by aerodynamic thrust. The aerodynamic efficiencies for producing both vertical lift and horizontal thrust of the wing are obtained using a quasi-steady aerodynamic model and two-dimensional (2D) CFD analysis at Reynolds number of 2500. The calculated efficiency data show that both efficiencies (propulsive efficiency- η p , and efficiency for producing lift- P f ) of the wing are optimized at Strouhal number ( St ) between 0.1 and 0.5 for a range of wing pitch angles (upstroke angle of attack α u less than 45°); the St for high P f ( St  = 0.1 ∼ 0.3) is generally lower than for high η p ( St  = 0.2 ∼ 0.5), while the St for equilibrium rotation states lies between the two. Further systematic calculations show that the natural equilibrium of the passive rotating wing automatically converges to high-efficiency states: above 85% of maximum P f can be obtained for a wide range of prescribed wing kinematics. This study provides insight into the aerodynamic efficiency of biological flyers in cruising flight, as well as practical applications for micro air vehicle design.

  13. Attitude control system for a lightweight flapping wing MAV.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tijmons, Sjoerd; Karásek, Matěj; de Croon, G C H E

    2018-03-14

    Robust attitude control is an essential aspect of research on autonomous flight of flapping wing Micro Air Vehicles. The mechanical solutions by which the necessary control moments are realised come at the price of extra weight and possible loss of aerodynamic efficiency. Stable flight of these vehicles has been shown by several designs using a conventional tail, but also by tailless designs that use active control of the wings. In this study a control mechanism is proposed that provides active control over the wings. The mechanism improves vehicle stability and agility by generation of control moments for roll, pitch and yaw. Its effectiveness is demonstrated by static measurements around all the three axes. Flight test results confirm that the attitude of the test vehicle, including a tail, can be successfully controlled in slow forward flight conditions. Furthermore, the flight envelope is extended with robust hovering and the ability to reverse the flight direction using a small turn space. This capability is very important for autonomous flight capabilities such as obstacle avoidance. Finally, it is demonstrated that the proposed control mechanism allows for tailless hovering flight. © 2018 IOP Publishing Ltd.

  14. Air plasma processing of poly(methyl methacrylate) micro-beads: Surface characterisations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu Chaozong; Cui Naiyi; Osbeck, Susan; Liang He

    2012-01-01

    Highlights: ► PMMA micro-beads were processed using a rotary air plasma reactor. ► Surface chemistry and surface texture of PMMA micro-beads were characterised. ► Surface wettability was evaluated using “floating” water contact angle method. ► Surface oxidation and texture changes induced by air plasma attributed to the improvement of surface wettability. - Abstract: This paper reports the surface processing of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) micro-beads by using a rotary air plasma reactor, and its effects on surface properties. The surface properties, including surface wettability, surface chemistry and textures of the PMMA beads, were characterised. It was observed that the air plasma processing can improve the surface wettability of the PMMA microbeads significantly. A 15 min plasma processing can reduce the surface water contact angle of PMMA beads to about 50° from its original value of 80.3°. This was accompanied by about 8% increase in surface oxygen concentration as confirmed by XPS analysis. The optical profilometry examination revealed the air plasma processing resulted in a rougher surface that has a “delicate” surface texture. It is concluded that the surface chemistry and texture, induced by air plasma processing, co-contributed to the surface wettability improvement of PMMA micro-beads.

  15. Design of a high altitude long endurance flying-wing solar-powered unmanned air vehicle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alsahlani, A. A.; Johnston, L. J.; Atcliffe, P. A.

    2017-06-01

    The low-Reynolds number environment of high-altitude §ight places severe demands on the aerodynamic design and stability and control of a high altitude, long endurance (HALE) unmanned air vehicle (UAV). The aerodynamic efficiency of a §ying-wing configuration makes it an attractive design option for such an application and is investigated in the present work. The proposed configuration has a high-aspect ratio, swept-wing planform, the wing sweep being necessary to provide an adequate moment arm for outboard longitudinal and lateral control surfaces. A design optimization framework is developed under a MATLAB environment, combining aerodynamic, structural, and stability analysis. Low-order analysis tools are employed to facilitate efficient computations, which is important when there are multiple optimization loops for the various engineering analyses. In particular, a vortex-lattice method is used to compute the wing planform aerodynamics, coupled to a twodimensional (2D) panel method to derive aerofoil sectional characteristics. Integral boundary-layer methods are coupled to the panel method in order to predict §ow separation boundaries during the design iterations. A quasi-analytical method is adapted for application to flyingwing con¦gurations to predict the wing weight and a linear finite-beam element approach is used for structural analysis of the wing-box. Stability is a particular concern in the low-density environment of high-altitude flight for flying-wing aircraft and so provision of adequate directional stability and control power forms part of the optimization process. At present, a modified Genetic Algorithm is used in all of the optimization loops. Each of the low-order engineering analysis tools is validated using higher-order methods to provide con¦dence in the use of these computationally-efficient tools in the present design-optimization framework. This paper includes the results of employing the present optimization tools in the design of a

  16. Optimal pitching axis location of flapping wings for efficient hovering flight.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Q; Goosen, J F L; van Keulen, F

    2017-09-01

    Flapping wings can pitch passively about their pitching axes due to their flexibility, inertia, and aerodynamic loads. A shift in the pitching axis location can dynamically alter the aerodynamic loads, which in turn changes the passive pitching motion and the flight efficiency. Therefore, it is of great interest to investigate the optimal pitching axis for flapping wings to maximize the power efficiency during hovering flight. In this study, flapping wings are modeled as rigid plates with non-uniform mass distribution. The wing flexibility is represented by a linearly torsional spring at the wing root. A predictive quasi-steady aerodynamic model is used to evaluate the lift generated by such wings. Two extreme power consumption scenarios are modeled for hovering flight, i.e. the power consumed by a drive system with and without the capacity of kinetic energy recovery. For wings with different shapes, the optimal pitching axis location is found such that the cycle-averaged power consumption during hovering flight is minimized. Optimization results show that the optimal pitching axis is located between the leading edge and the mid-chord line, which shows close resemblance to insect wings. An optimal pitching axis can save up to 33% of power during hovering flight when compared to traditional wings used by most of flapping wing micro air vehicles (FWMAVs). Traditional wings typically use the straight leading edge as the pitching axis. With the optimized pitching axis, flapping wings show higher pitching amplitudes and start the pitching reversals in advance of the sweeping reversals. These phenomena lead to higher lift-to-drag ratios and, thus, explain the lower power consumption. In addition, the optimized pitching axis provides the drive system higher potential to recycle energy during the deceleration phases as compared to their counterparts. This observation underlines the particular importance of the wing pitching axis location for energy-efficient FWMAVs when

  17. Biologically Inspired Micro-Flight Research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Raney, David L.; Waszak, Martin R.

    2003-01-01

    Natural fliers demonstrate a diverse array of flight capabilities, many of which are poorly understood. NASA has established a research project to explore and exploit flight technologies inspired by biological systems. One part of this project focuses on dynamic modeling and control of micro aerial vehicles that incorporate flexible wing structures inspired by natural fliers such as insects, hummingbirds and bats. With a vast number of potential civil and military applications, micro aerial vehicles represent an emerging sector of the aerospace market. This paper describes an ongoing research activity in which mechanization and control concepts for biologically inspired micro aerial vehicles are being explored. Research activities focusing on a flexible fixed- wing micro aerial vehicle design and a flapping-based micro aerial vehicle concept are presented.

  18. Lift and Power Required for Flapping Wing Hovering Flight on Mars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pohly, Jeremy; Sridhar, Madhu; Bluman, James; Kang, Chang-Kwon; Landrum, D. Brian; Fahimi, Farbod; Aono, Hikaru; Liu, Hao

    2017-11-01

    Achieving flight on Mars is challenging due to the ultra-low density atmosphere. Bio-inspired flapping motion can generate sufficient lift if bumblebee-inspired wings are scaled up between 2 and 4 times their nominal size. However, due to this scaling, the inertial power required to sustain hover increases and dominates over the aerodynamic power. Our results show that a torsional spring placed at the wing root can reduce the flapping power required for hover by efficiently storing and releasing energy while operating at its resonance frequency. The spring assisted reduction in flapping power is demonstrated with a well-validated, coupled Navier-Stokes and flight dynamics solver. The total power is reduced by 79%, whereas the flapping power is reduced by 98%. Such a reduction in power paves the way for an efficient, realizable micro air vehicle capable of vertical takeoff and landing as well as sustained flight on Mars. Alabama Space Grant Consortium Fellowship.

  19. Research on a Micro-Grid Frequency Modulation Strategy Based on Optimal Utilization of Air Conditioners

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Qingzhu Wan

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available With the proportion of air conditioners increasing gradually, they can provide a certain amount of frequency-controlled reserves for a micro-grid. Optimizing utilization of air conditioners and considering load response characteristics and customer comfort, the frequency adjustment model is a quadratic function model between the trigger temperature of the air conditioner compressor, and frequency variation is provided, which can be used to regulate the trigger temperature of the air conditioner when the micro-grid frequency rises and falls. This frequency adjustment model combines a primary frequency modulation method and a secondary frequency modulation method of the energy storage system, in order to optimize the frequency of a micro-grid. The simulation results show that the frequency modulation strategy for air conditioners can effectively improve the frequency modulation ability of air conditioners and frequency modulation effects of a micro-grid in coordination with an energy storage system.

  20. Biomechanics of smart wings in a bat robot: morphing wings using SMA actuators

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Colorado, J; Barrientos, A; Rossi, C; Breuer, K S

    2012-01-01

    This paper presents the design of a bat-like micro aerial vehicle with actuated morphing wings. NiTi shape memory alloys (SMAs) acting as artificial biceps and triceps muscles are used for mimicking the morphing wing mechanism of the bat flight apparatus. Our objective is twofold. Firstly, we have implemented a control architecture that allows an accurate and fast SMA actuation. This control makes use of the electrical resistance measurements of SMAs to adjust morphing wing motions. Secondly, the feasibility of using SMA actuation technology is evaluated for the application at hand. To this purpose, experiments are conducted to analyze the control performance in terms of nominal and overloaded operation modes of the SMAs. This analysis includes: (i) inertial forces regarding the stretchable wing membrane and aerodynamic loads, and (ii) uncertainties due to impact of airflow conditions over the resistance–motion relationship of SMAs. With the proposed control, morphing actuation speed can be increased up to 2.5 Hz, being sufficient to generate lift forces at a cruising speed of 5 m s −1 . (paper)

  1. Biomechanics of smart wings in a bat robot: morphing wings using SMA actuators.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Colorado, J; Barrientos, A; Rossi, C; Bahlman, J W; Breuer, K S

    2012-09-01

    This paper presents the design of a bat-like micro aerial vehicle with actuated morphing wings. NiTi shape memory alloys (SMAs) acting as artificial biceps and triceps muscles are used for mimicking the morphing wing mechanism of the bat flight apparatus. Our objective is twofold. Firstly, we have implemented a control architecture that allows an accurate and fast SMA actuation. This control makes use of the electrical resistance measurements of SMAs to adjust morphing wing motions. Secondly, the feasibility of using SMA actuation technology is evaluated for the application at hand. To this purpose, experiments are conducted to analyze the control performance in terms of nominal and overloaded operation modes of the SMAs. This analysis includes: (i) inertial forces regarding the stretchable wing membrane and aerodynamic loads, and (ii) uncertainties due to impact of airflow conditions over the resistance-motion relationship of SMAs. With the proposed control, morphing actuation speed can be increased up to 2.5 Hz, being sufficient to generate lift forces at a cruising speed of 5 m s(-1).

  2. New compliant strain gauges for self-sensing dynamic deformation of flapping wings on miniature air vehicles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wissman, James; Perez-Rosado, Ariel; Edgerton, Alex; Levi, Benjamin M.; Karakas, Zeynep N.; Kujawski, Mark; Philipps, Alyssa; Papavizas, Nicholas; Fallon, Danielle; Bruck, Hugh A.; Smela, Elisabeth

    2013-08-01

    Over the past several years there has been an increasing interest in the development of miniature air vehicles (MAVs) with flapping wings. To allow these MAVs to adjust to changes in wind direction and to maximize their efficiency, it is desirable to monitor the deformation of the wing during flight. This paper presents a step in this direction, demonstrating the measurement of strain on the surface of the wing using minimally invasive compliant piezoresistive sensors. The strain gauges consisted of latex mixed with electrically conducting exfoliated graphite, and they were applied by spray coating. To calibrate the gauges, both static and dynamic testing up to 10 Hz were performed using cantilever structures. In tension the static sensitivity was a linear 0.4 Ω μɛ-1 and the gauge factor was 28; in compression, the gauge factor was -5. Although sensitivities in tension and compression differed by a factor of almost six, this was not reflected in the dynamic data, which followed the strain reversibly with little distortion. There was no attenuation with frequency, indicating a sufficiently small time constant for this application. The gauges were thin, compliant, and light enough to measure, without interference, deformations due to shape changes of the flexible wing associated with generating lift and thrust. During flapping the resistance closely tracked the generated thrust, measured on a test stand, with both signals tracing figure-8 loops as a function of wing position throughout each cycle.

  3. New compliant strain gauges for self-sensing dynamic deformation of flapping wings on miniature air vehicles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wissman, James; Perez-Rosado, Ariel; Edgerton, Alex; Levi, Benjamin M; Karakas, Zeynep N; Kujawski, Mark; Philipps, Alyssa; Papavizas, Nicholas; Fallon, Danielle; Bruck, Hugh A; Smela, Elisabeth

    2013-01-01

    Over the past several years there has been an increasing interest in the development of miniature air vehicles (MAVs) with flapping wings. To allow these MAVs to adjust to changes in wind direction and to maximize their efficiency, it is desirable to monitor the deformation of the wing during flight. This paper presents a step in this direction, demonstrating the measurement of strain on the surface of the wing using minimally invasive compliant piezoresistive sensors. The strain gauges consisted of latex mixed with electrically conducting exfoliated graphite, and they were applied by spray coating. To calibrate the gauges, both static and dynamic testing up to 10 Hz were performed using cantilever structures. In tension the static sensitivity was a linear 0.4 Ω με −1 and the gauge factor was 28; in compression, the gauge factor was −5. Although sensitivities in tension and compression differed by a factor of almost six, this was not reflected in the dynamic data, which followed the strain reversibly with little distortion. There was no attenuation with frequency, indicating a sufficiently small time constant for this application. The gauges were thin, compliant, and light enough to measure, without interference, deformations due to shape changes of the flexible wing associated with generating lift and thrust. During flapping the resistance closely tracked the generated thrust, measured on a test stand, with both signals tracing figure-8 loops as a function of wing position throughout each cycle. (paper)

  4. Air-side performance of a micro-channel heat exchanger in wet surface conditions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Srisomba Raviwat

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The effects of operating conditions on the air-side heat transfer, and pressure drop of a micro-channel heat exchanger under wet surface conditions were studied experimentally. The test section was an aluminum micro-channel heat exchanger, consisting of a multi-louvered fin and multi-port mini-channels. Experiments were conducted to study the effects of inlet relative humidity, air frontal velocity, air inlet temperature, and refrigerant temperature on air-side performance. The experimental data were analyzed using the mean enthalpy difference method. The test run was performed at relative air humidities ranging between 45% and 80%; air inlet temperature ranges of 27, 30, and 33°C; refrigerant-saturated temperatures ranging from 18 to 22°C; and Reynolds numbers between 128 and 166. The results show that the inlet relative humidity, air inlet temperature, and the refrigerant temperature had significant effects on heat transfer performance and air-side pressure drop. The heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop for the micro-channel heat exchanger under wet surface conditions are proposed in terms of the Colburn j factor and Fanning f factor.

  5. Unsteady aerodynamics of a pitching-flapping-perturbed revolving wing at low Reynolds number

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Long; Wu, Jianghao; Zhou, Chao; Hsu, Shih-Jung; Cheng, Bo

    2018-05-01

    Due to adverse viscous effects, revolving wings suffer universally from low efficiency at low Reynolds number (Re). By reciprocating wing revolving motion, natural flyers flying at low Re successfully exploit unsteady effects to augment force production and efficiency. Here we investigate the aerodynamics of an alternative, i.e., a revolving wing with concomitant unsteady pitching and vertical flapping perturbations (a pitching-flapping-perturbed revolving wing). The current work builds upon a previous study on flapping-perturbed revolving wings (FP-RWs) and focuses on combined effects of pitching-flapping perturbation on force generation and vortex behaviors. The results show that, compared with a FR-RW, pitching motion further (1) reduces the external driving torque for rotating at 0° angle of attack (α0) and (2) enhances lift and leads to a self-rotating equilibrium at α0 = 20°. The power loading of a revolving wing at α0 = 20° can be improved using pitching-flapping perturbations with large pitching amplitude but small Strouhal number. Additionally, an advanced pitching improves the reduction of external driving torque, whereas a delayed pitching weakens both the lift enhancement and the reduction of external driving torque. Further analysis shows that pitching effects can be mainly decomposed into the Leading-Edge-Vortex (LEV)-mediated pressure component and geometric projection component, together they determine the force performance. LEV circulation is found to be determined by the instantaneous effective angle of attack but could be affected asymmetrically between upstroke and downstroke depending on the nominal angle of attack. Pitching-flapping perturbation thus can potentially inspire novel mechanisms to improve the aerodynamic performance of rotary wing micro air vehicles.

  6. Cost-Effective and Environmentally Safe Corrosion Prevention for 2nd Marine Air Wing Support Equipment Using Desiccant Wheel Dehumidification (DEW)

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    McCarthy, David

    1994-01-01

    ...: change the material, coat its surface or keep the item dry. In an effort to reduce the cost and environmental impact of maintaining contingency support equipment, the 2nd Marine Air Wing (2nd MAW...

  7. The Use of Compressed Air for Micro-Jet Cooling After MIG Welding

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hadryś D.

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available The material selected for this investigation was low alloy steel weld metal deposit (WMD after MIG welding with micro-jet cooling. The present investigation was aimed as the following tasks: obtained WMD with various amount of acicular ferrite and further analyze impact toughness of WMD in terms of acicular ferrite amount in it. Weld metal deposit (WMD was first time carried out for MIG welding with micro-jet cooling of compressed air and gas mixture of argon and air. Until that moment only argon, helium and nitrogen were tested as micro-jet gases for MIG/MAG processes. An important role in the interpretation of the results can give methods of artificial intelligence.

  8. Variable camber wing based on pneumatic artificial muscles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yin, Weilong; Liu, Libo; Chen, Yijin; Leng, Jinsong

    2009-07-01

    As a novel bionic actuator, pneumatic artificial muscle has high power to weight ratio. In this paper, a variable camber wing with the pneumatic artificial muscle is developed. Firstly, the experimental setup to measure the static output force of pneumatic artificial muscle is designed. The relationship between the static output force and the air pressure is investigated. Experimental result shows the static output force of pneumatic artificial muscle decreases nonlinearly with increasing contraction ratio. Secondly, the finite element model of the variable camber wing is developed. Numerical results show that the tip displacement of the trailing-edge increases linearly with increasing external load and limited with the maximum static output force of pneumatic artificial muscles. Finally, the variable camber wing model is manufactured to validate the variable camber concept. Experimental result shows that the wing camber increases with increasing air pressure and that it compare very well with the FEM result.

  9. A novel complex air supply model for indoor air quality control via the occupant micro-environment demand ventilation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yang, Jie; Zhou, Bo; Jin, Maozhu; Wang, Jun; Xiong, Feng

    2016-01-01

    Protection of indoor air quality and human health can be achieved via ventilation, which has becomes one of the most important tasks for sustainable buildings. This approach also requires highly efficient and energy saving methods for modern building ventilations consisting of a set of parameters of the complex indoor system. Therefore, the advancement in understanding the characteristics of various ventilation methods is highly necessary. This study presents one novel air supply model for the complex occupant micro-environment demand control ventilations, to analyze the efficiency of various ventilation types. This model is established primarily according to the momentum and mass conservations, and goal of occupant micro-environment demand, which is a complex system with the characteristics of diversity and dynamic variation. As for different occupant densities, characteristics of outdoor air supply for controlling gaseous pollutant and three basic features of outdoor airflow supply reaching occupant micro-environment were obtained. This research shows that for various types of occupant density and storey height, the rising and descending rates of the demand outdoor airflow in mixing ventilation are higher than those under displacement ventilation conditions. In addition, since the structure is better designed and sewage flow is more efficient, the mixing ventilation also requires a much higher peak demand outdoor airflow than its counterpart. The increase of storey height will lead to a decline of pollutants in the breathing zone and the demand outdoor airflow. Fluctuations of air flow diffusion caused by the change of occupant density in architectural space, will lead to variations of outdoor airflow reaching occupant micro-environment. Accordingly, it would lead to the different peak values of demand outdoor airflow, and the difference becomes even significant if the occupant density increases. The variations of the air supply and fraction of air reaching the

  10. Design Optimization of a Micro-Combustor for Lean, Premixed Fuel-Air Mixtures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Powell, Leigh Theresa

    Present technology has been shifting towards miniaturization of devices for energy production for portable electronics. Micro-combustors, when incorporated into a micro-power generation system, provide the energy desired in the form of hot gases to power such technology. This creates the need for a design optimization of the micro-combustor in terms of geometry, fuel choice, and material selection. A total of five micro-combustor geometries, three fuels, and three materials were computationally simulated in different configurations in order to determine the optimal micro-combustor design for highest efficiency. Inlet velocity, equivalence ratio, and wall heat transfer coefficient were varied in order to test a comprehensive range of micro-combustor parameters. All simulations completed for the optimization study used ANSYS Fluent v16.1 and post-processing of the data was done in CFD Post v16.1. It was found that for lean, premixed fuel-air mixtures (φ = 0.6 - 0.9) ethane (C 2H6) provided the highest flame temperatures when ignited within the micro-combustor geometries. An aluminum oxide converging micro-combustor burning ethane and air at an equivalence ratio of 0.9, an inlet velocity of 0.5 m/s, and heat transfer coefficient of 5 W/m2-K was found to produce the highest combustor efficiency, making it the optimal choice for a micro-combustor design. It is proposed that this geometry be experimentally and computationally investigated further in order to determine if additional optimization can be achieved.

  11. Flexible micro flow sensor for micro aerial vehicles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, Rong; Que, Ruiyi; Liu, Peng

    2017-12-01

    This article summarizes our studies on micro flow sensors fabricated on a flexible polyimide circuit board by a low-cost hybrid process of thin-film deposition and circuit printing. The micro flow sensor has merits of flexibility, structural simplicity, easy integrability with circuits, and good sensing performance. The sensor, which adheres to an object surface, can detect the surface flow around the object. In our study, we install the fabricated micro flow sensors on micro aerial vehicles (MAVs) to detect the surface flow variation around the aircraft wing and deduce the aerodynamic parameters of the MAVs in flight. Wind tunnel experiments using the sensors integrated with the MAVs are also conducted.

  12. Inertial attitude control of a bat-like morphing-wing air vehicle

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Colorado, J; Barrientos, A; Rossi, C; Parra, C

    2013-01-01

    This paper presents a novel bat-like unmanned aerial vehicle inspired by the morphing-wing mechanism of bats. The goal of this paper is twofold. Firstly, a modelling framework is introduced for analysing how the robot should manoeuvre by means of changing wing morphology. This allows the definition of requirements for achieving forward and turning flight according to the kinematics of the wing modulation. Secondly, an attitude controller named backstepping+DAF is proposed. Motivated by biological evidence about the influence of wing inertia on the production of body accelerations, the attitude control law incorporates wing inertia information to produce desired roll (φ) and pitch (θ) acceleration commands (desired angular acceleration function (DAF)). This novel control approach is aimed at incrementing net body forces (F net ) that generate propulsion. Simulations and wind-tunnel experimental results have shown an increase of about 23% in net body force production during the wingbeat cycle when the wings are modulated using the DAF as a part of the backstepping control law. Results also confirm accurate attitude tracking in spite of high external disturbances generated by aerodynamic loads at airspeeds up to 5 ms −1 . (paper)

  13. Inertial attitude control of a bat-like morphing-wing air vehicle.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Colorado, J; Barrientos, A; Rossi, C; Parra, C

    2013-03-01

    This paper presents a novel bat-like unmanned aerial vehicle inspired by the morphing-wing mechanism of bats. The goal of this paper is twofold. Firstly, a modelling framework is introduced for analysing how the robot should manoeuvre by means of changing wing morphology. This allows the definition of requirements for achieving forward and turning flight according to the kinematics of the wing modulation. Secondly, an attitude controller named backstepping+DAF is proposed. Motivated by biological evidence about the influence of wing inertia on the production of body accelerations, the attitude control law incorporates wing inertia information to produce desired roll (ϕ) and pitch (θ) acceleration commands (desired angular acceleration function (DAF)). This novel control approach is aimed at incrementing net body forces (F(net)) that generate propulsion. Simulations and wind-tunnel experimental results have shown an increase of about 23% in net body force production during the wingbeat cycle when the wings are modulated using the DAF as a part of the backstepping control law. Results also confirm accurate attitude tracking in spite of high external disturbances generated by aerodynamic loads at airspeeds up to 5 ms⁻¹.

  14. Rice- and butterfly-wing effect inspired self-cleaning and low drag micro/nanopatterned surfaces in water, oil, and air flow

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bixler, Gregory D.; Bhushan, Bharat

    2013-12-01

    In search of new solutions to complex challenges, researchers are turning to living nature for inspiration. For example, special surface characteristics of rice leaves and butterfly wings combine the shark skin (anisotropic flow leading to low drag) and lotus leaf (superhydrophobic and self-cleaning) effects, producing the so-called rice and butterfly wing effect. In this paper, we study four microstructured surfaces inspired by rice leaves and fabricated with photolithography techniques. We also present a method of creating such surfaces using a hot embossing procedure for scaled-up manufacturing. Fluid drag, self-cleaning, contact angle, and contact angle hysteresis data are presented to understand the role of sample geometrical dimensions. Conceptual modeling provides design guidance when developing novel low drag, self-cleaning, and potentially antifouling surfaces for medical, marine, and industrial applications.

  15. An experimental investigation into the deployment of 3-D, finned wing and shape memory alloy vortex generators in a forced air convection heat pipe fin stack

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aris, M.S.; McGlen, R.; Owen, I.; Sutcliffe, C.J.

    2011-01-01

    Forced air convection heat pipe cooling systems play an essential role in the thermal management of electronic and power electronic devices such as microprocessors and IGBT's (Integrated Gate Bipolar Transistors). With increasing heat dissipation from these devices, novel methods of improving the thermal performance of fin stacks attached to the heat pipe condenser section are required. The current work investigates the use of a wing type surface protrusions in the form of 3-D delta wing tabs adhered to the fin surface, thin wings punched-out of the fin material and TiNi shape memory alloy delta wings which changed their angles of attack based on the fin surface temperature. The longitudinal vortices generated from the wing designs induce secondary mixing of the cooler free stream air entering the fin stack with the warmer fluid close to the fin surfaces. The change in angle of the attack of the active delta wings provide heat transfer enhancement while managing flow pressure losses across the fin stack. A heat transfer enhancement of 37% compared to a plain fin stack was obtained from the 3-D tabs in a staggered arrangement. The punched-out delta wings in the staggered and inline arrangements provided enhancements of 30% and 26% respectively. Enhancements from the active delta wings were lower at 16%. However, as these devices reduce the pressure drop through the fin stack by approximately 19% in the de-activate position, over the activated position, a reduction in fan operating cost may be achieved for systems operating with inlet air temperatures below the maximum inlet temperature specification for the device. CFD analysis was also carried out to provide additional detail of the local heat transfer enhancement effects. The CFD results corresponded well with previously published reports and were consistent with the experimental findings. - Highlights: → Heat transfer enhancements of heat pipe fin stacks was successfully achieved using fixed and active delta

  16. Flight Testing of Novel Compliant Spines for Passive Wing Morphing on Ornithopters

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wissa, Aimy; Guerreiro, Nelson; Grauer, Jared; Altenbuchner, Cornelia; Hubbard, James E., Jr.; Tummala, Yashwanth; Frecker, Mary; Roberts, Richard

    2013-01-01

    Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are proliferating in both the civil and military markets. Flapping wing UAVs, or ornithopters, have the potential to combine the agility and maneuverability of rotary wing aircraft with excellent performance in low Reynolds number flight regimes. The purpose of this paper is to present new free flight experimental results for an ornithopter equipped with one degree of freedom (1DOF) compliant spines that were designed and optimized in terms of mass, maximum von-Mises stress, and desired wing bending deflections. The spines were inserted in an experimental ornithopter wing spar in order to achieve a set of desired kinematics during the up and down strokes of a flapping cycle. The ornithopter was flown at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in the Air Force Research Laboratory Small Unmanned Air Systems (SUAS) indoor flight facility. Vicon motion tracking cameras were used to track the motion of the vehicle for five different wing configurations. The effect of the presence of the compliant spine on wing kinematics and leading edge spar deflection during flight is presented. Results show that the ornithopter with the compliant spine inserted in its wing reduced the body acceleration during the upstroke which translates into overall lift gains.

  17. Role of wing morphing in thrust generation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mehdi Ghommem

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, we investigate the role of morphing on flight dynamics of two birds by simulating the flow over rigid and morphing wings that have the characteristics of two different birds, namely the Giant Petrel and Dove Prion. The simulation of a flapping rigid wing shows that the root of the wing should be placed at a specific angle of attack in order to generate enough lift to balance the weight of the bird. However, in this case the generated thrust is either very small, or even negative, depending on the wing shape. Further, results show that morphing of the wing enables a significant increase in the thrust and propulsive efficiency. This indicates that the birds actually utilize some sort of active wing twisting and bending to produce enough thrust. This study should facilitate better guidance for the design of flapping air vehicles.

  18. Micro-controller based air pressure monitoring instrumentation system using optical fibers as sensor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hazarika, D.; Pegu, D. S.

    2013-03-01

    This paper describes a micro-controller based instrumentation system to monitor air pressure using optical fiber sensors. The principle of macrobending is used to develop the sensor system. The instrumentation system consists of a laser source, a beam splitter, two multi mode optical fibers, two Light Dependent Resistance (LDR) based timer circuits and a AT89S8252 micro-controller. The beam splitter is used to divide the laser beam into two parts and then these two beams are launched into two multi mode fibers. One of the multi mode fibers is used as the sensor fiber and the other one is used as the reference fiber. The use of the reference fiber is to eliminate the environmental effects while measuring the air pressure magnitude. The laser beams from the sensor and reference fibers are applied to two identical LDR based timer circuits. The LDR based timer circuits are interfaced to a micro-controller through its counter pins. The micro-controller samples the frequencies of the timer circuits using its counter-0 and counter-1 and the counter values are then processed to provide the measure of air pressure magnitude.

  19. Influence of turbulent flow on the explosion parameters of micro- and nano-aluminum powder–air mixtures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu, Xueling; Zhang, Qi

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • The slope of P_m_a_x versus U_r_m_s is greater for nano-Al powder than for micro-Al powder. • The u_e_f_f_,_m_a_x of micro-Al and nano-Al powder-air mixtures increases linearly with U_r_m_s. • For micro- and nano-Al powders, u_e_f_f_, _m_a_x increases as the percentage of nano-Al increases. - Abstract: The environmental turbulence intensity has a significant influence on the explosion parameters of both micro- and nano-Al at the time of ignition. However, explosion research on turbulence intensity with respect to micro- and nano-Al powders is still insufficient. In this work, micro- and nano-aluminum powders were investigated via scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and their particle size distributions were measured using a laser diffraction analyzer under dispersing air pressures of 0.4, 0.6, and 0.8 MPa in a 20 L cylindrical, strong plexiglass vessel. The particle size distributions in three different mass ratio mixtures of micro- and nano-Al powders (micro-Al:nano-Al_[_m_a_s_s_r_a_t_i_o_] = 95:5, 90:10, and 85:15) were also measured. The results show that the agglomerate size of nano-Al powder is an order of magnitude larger than the nanoparticles’ actual size. Furthermore, the turbulence intensity ranges (U_r_m_s) of the Al powder-air mixtures were measured using particle image velocimetry (PIV) under dispersing air pressures of 0.4, 0.6, and 0.8 MPa. The effect of turbulence intensity on the explosion characteristics of the micro- and nano-Al powders was investigated using a 20 L cylindrical explosion vessel. The results of micro-Al and nano-Al powder-air mixtures with a stoichiometric concentration of 337.00 g·m"−"3 were discussed for the maximum explosion pressure, the maximum rate of pressure increase and the maximum effective burning velocity under the different turbulence intensity.

  20. AERODYNAMIC LOAD OF AN AIRCRAFT WITH A HIGHLY ELASTIC WING

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pavel Schoř

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available In this article, a method for calculation of air loads of an aircraft with an elastic wing is presented. The method can predict a redistribution of air loads when the elastic wing deforms. Unlike the traditional Euler or Navier-Stokes CFD to FEM coupling, the method uses 3D panel method as a source of aerodynamic data. This makes the calculation feasible on a typical recent workstation. Due to a short computational time and low hardware demands this method is suitable for both the preliminary design stage and the load evaluation stage. A case study is presented. The study compares a glider wing performing a pull maneuver at both rigid and and elastic state. The study indicates a significant redistribution of air load at the elastic case.

  1. Aircraft impact risk assessment data base for assessment of fixed wing air carrier impact risk in the vicinity of airports

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Akstulewicz, F.; Read, J.

    1979-06-01

    The FIXED WING AIRCRAFT accidents occurring to US air carriers during the years 1956 through 1977 are listed, with those resulting in impact within five miles of airports in the contiguous US being considered in detail as to location of impact relative to the airport runways

  2. Study of Cycling Air-Cooling System with a Cold Accumulator for Micro Gas-Turbine Installations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ochkov, V. F.; Stepanova, T. A.; Katenev, G. M.; Tumanovskii, V. A.; Borisova, P. N.

    2018-05-01

    Using the cycling air-cooling systems of the CTIC type (Combustion Turbine Inlet Cooling) with a cold accumulator in a micro gas-turbine installation (micro-GTI) to preserve its capacity under the seasonal temperature rise of outside air is described. Water ice is used as the body-storage in the accumulators, and ice water (water at 0.5-1.0°C) is used as the body that cools air. The ice water circulates between the accumulator and the air-water heat exchanger. The cold accumulator model with renewable ice resources is considered. The model contains the heat-exchanging tube lattice-evaporator covered with ice. The lattice is cross-flowed with water. The criterion heat exchange equation that describes the process in the cold accumulator under consideration is presented. The calculations of duration of its active operation were performed. The dependence of cold accumulator service life on water circulation rate was evaluated. The adequacy of the design model was confirmed experimentally in the mock-up of the cold accumulator with a refrigerating machine periodically creating a 200 kg ice reserve in the reservoir-storage. The design model makes it possible to determine the weight of ice reserve of the discharged cold accumulator for cooling the cycle air in the operation of a C-30 type micro- GTI produced by the Capstone Company or micro-GTIs of other capacities. Recommendations for increasing the working capacity of cold accumulators of CTIC-systems of a micro-GTI were made.

  3. Center for Micro Air Vehicle Studies

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-02-01

    from a Gauss - Seidel method to a different iterative process to allow pressures to converge properly. Additionally, the updates to the Cradle...the thorax. After many design iterations , including variations in spring count and spring constants, a feasible model was selected based on the...wings. Many iterations of this wing were made to prevent breakage. The iterations involved increasing spar thicknesses, which increased the weight of

  4. A Conceptual Development of a Shape Memory Alloy Actuated Variable Camber Morphing Wing

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ferreira, J.P.; De Breuker, R.

    2016-01-01

    This study describes the development of a morphing wing concept for a Portuguese Air Force Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV), the UAS-30. Nowadays, optimized fuel efficiency is a primary requirement in the aerospace industry, and it can be significantly improved by designing adaptive wings which can change

  5. Refractive index dependence of Papilio Ulysses butterfly wings reflectance spectra

    Science.gov (United States)

    Isnaeni, Muslimin, Ahmad Novi; Birowosuto, Muhammad Danang

    2016-02-01

    We have observed and utilized butterfly wings of Papilio Ulysses for refractive index sensor. We noticed this butterfly wings have photonic crystal structure, which causes blue color appearance on the wings. The photonic crystal structure, which consists of cuticle and air void, is approximated as one dimensional photonic crystal structure. This photonic crystal structure opens potential to several optical devices application, such as refractive index sensor. We have utilized small piece of Papilio Ulysses butterfly wings to characterize refractive index of several liquid base on reflectance spectrum of butterfly wings in the presence of sample liquid. For comparison, we simulated reflectance spectrum of one dimensional photonic crystal structure having material parameter based on real structure of butterfly wings. We found that reflectance spectrum peaks shifted as refractive index of sample changes. Although there is a slight difference in reflectance spectrum peaks between measured spectrum and calculated spectrum, the trend of reflectance spectrum peaks as function of sample's refractive index is the similar. We assume that during the measurement, the air void that filled by sample liquid is expanded due to liquid pressure. This change of void shape causes non-similarity between measured spectrum and calculated spectrum.

  6. Numerical simulation of X-wing type biplane flapping wings in 3D using the immersed boundary method

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tay, W B; Van Oudheusden, B W; Bijl, H

    2014-01-01

    The numerical simulation of an insect-sized ‘X-wing’ type biplane flapping wing configuration is performed in 3D using an immersed boundary method solver at Reynolds numbers equal to 1000 (1 k) and 5 k, based on the wing's root chord length. This X-wing type flapping configuration draws its inspiration from Delfly, a bio-inspired ornithopter MAV which has two pairs of wings flapping in anti-phase in a biplane configuration. The objective of the present investigation is to assess the aerodynamic performance when the original Delfly flapping wing micro-aerial vehicle (FMAV) is reduced to the size of an insect. Results show that the X-wing configuration gives more than twice the average thrust compared with only flapping the upper pair of wings of the X-wing. However, the X-wing's average thrust is only 40% that of the upper wing flapping at twice the stroke angle. Despite this, the increased stability which results from the smaller lift and moment variation of the X-wing configuration makes it more suited for sharp image capture and recognition. These advantages make the X-wing configuration an attractive alternative design for insect-sized FMAVS compared to the single wing configuration. In the Reynolds number comparison, the vorticity iso-surface plot at a Reynolds number of 5 k revealed smaller, finer vortical structures compared to the simulation at 1 k, due to vortices’ breakup. In comparison, the force output difference is much smaller between Re = 1 k and 5 k. Increasing the body inclination angle generates a uniform leading edge vortex instead of a conical one along the wingspan, giving higher lift. Understanding the force variation as the body inclination angle increases will allow FMAV designers to optimize the thrust and lift ratio for higher efficiency under different operational requirements. Lastly, increasing the spanwise flexibility of the wings increases the thrust slightly but decreases the efficiency. The thrust result is similar

  7. Radar Micro-Doppler classification of Mini-UAVs

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Harmanny, R.L.A.; Prémel-Cabic, G.; Wit, J.J.M.

    2015-01-01

    The radar micro-Doppler signature of a target depends on its micro-motion, i.e., the motion of parts of a target relative to the motion of the target as a whole. These micro-motions are very characteristic considering different target classes, e.g., the slow pendulum-like motion of a bird’s wings

  8. Measurement of circulation around wing-tip vortices and estimation of lift forces using stereo PIV

    Science.gov (United States)

    Asano, Shinichiro; Sato, Haru; Sakakibara, Jun

    2017-11-01

    Applying the flapping flight to the development of an aircraft as Mars space probe and a small aircraft called MAV (Micro Air Vehicle) is considered. This is because Reynolds number assumed as the condition of these aircrafts is low and similar to of insects and small birds flapping on the earth. However, it is difficult to measure the flow around the airfoil in flapping flight directly because of its three-dimensional and unsteady characteristics. Hence, there is an attempt to estimate the flow field and aerodynamics by measuring the wake of the airfoil using PIV, for example the lift estimation method based on a wing-tip vortex. In this study, at the angle of attack including the angle after stall, we measured the wing-tip vortex of a NACA 0015 cross-sectional and rectangular planform airfoil using stereo PIV. The circulation of the wing-tip vortex was calculated from the obtained velocity field, and the lift force was estimated based on Kutta-Joukowski theorem. Then, the validity of this estimation method was examined by comparing the estimated lift force and the force balance data at various angles of attack. The experiment results are going to be presented in the conference.

  9. An evaluation tool kit of air quality micro-sensing units

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Fishbain, B.; Lerner, U.; Castell-Balaguer, N.; Cole-Hunter, T.; Popoola, O.; Broday, D. M.; Martinez Iniguez, T.; Nieuwenhuijsen, M.; Jovasevic-Stojanovic, M.; Topalovic, D.; Roderic, L.J.; Gaela, K.; Etzion, Y.; Kizel, F.; Golumbic, Y.N.; Baram-Tsabari, A.; Yacobi, T.; Drahler, D.; Robinson, J.A.; Kocman, D.; Horvát, M.; Švecová, Vlasta; Arpaci, A.; Bartoňová, A.

    2017-01-01

    Roč. 575, jan (2017), s. 639-648 ISSN 0048-9697 Institutional support: RVO:68378041 Keywords : air quality * environmental monitoring * micro sensing units Subject RIV: DN - Health Impact of the Environment Quality OBOR OECD: Public and environmental health Impact factor: 4.900, year: 2016

  10. A MEMS-based Air Flow Sensor with a Free-standing Micro-cantilever Structure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Yu-Hsiang; Lee, Chia-Yen; Chiang, Che-Ming

    2007-10-17

    This paper presents a micro-scale air flow sensor based on a free-standingcantilever structure. In the fabrication process, MEMS techniques are used to deposit asilicon nitride layer on a silicon wafer. A platinum layer is deposited on the silicon nitridelayer to form a piezoresistor, and the resulting structure is then etched to create afreestanding micro-cantilever. When an air flow passes over the surface of the cantileverbeam, the beam deflects in the downward direction, resulting in a small variation in theresistance of the piezoelectric layer. The air flow velocity is determined by measuring thechange in resistance using an external LCR meter. The experimental results indicate that theflow sensor has a high sensitivity (0.0284 ω/ms -1 ), a high velocity measurement limit (45ms -1 ) and a rapid response time (0.53 s).

  11. Gliding swifts attain laminar flow over rough wings.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David Lentink

    Full Text Available Swifts are among the most aerodynamically refined gliding birds. However, the overlapping vanes and protruding shafts of their primary feathers make swift wings remarkably rough for their size. Wing roughness height is 1-2% of chord length on the upper surface--10,000 times rougher than sailplane wings. Sailplanes depend on extreme wing smoothness to increase the area of laminar flow on the wing surface and minimize drag for extended glides. To understand why the swift does not rely on smooth wings, we used a stethoscope to map laminar flow over preserved wings in a low-turbulence wind tunnel. By combining laminar area, lift, and drag measurements, we show that average area of laminar flow on swift wings is 69% (n = 3; std 13% of their total area during glides that maximize flight distance and duration--similar to high-performance sailplanes. Our aerodynamic analysis indicates that swifts attain laminar flow over their rough wings because their wing size is comparable to the distance the air travels (after a roughness-induced perturbation before it transitions from laminar to turbulent. To interpret the function of swift wing roughness, we simulated its effect on smooth model wings using physical models. This manipulation shows that laminar flow is reduced and drag increased at high speeds. At the speeds at which swifts cruise, however, swift-like roughness prolongs laminar flow and reduces drag. This feature gives small birds with rudimentary wings an edge during the evolution of glide performance.

  12. A MEMS-based Air Flow Sensor with a Free-standing Micro-cantilever Structure

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Che-Ming Chiang

    2007-10-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a micro-scale air flow sensor based on a free-standingcantilever structure. In the fabrication process, MEMS techniques are used to deposit asilicon nitride layer on a silicon wafer. A platinum layer is deposited on the silicon nitridelayer to form a piezoresistor, and the resulting structure is then etched to create afreestanding micro-cantilever. When an air flow passes over the surface of the cantileverbeam, the beam deflects in the downward direction, resulting in a small variation in theresistance of the piezoelectric layer. The air flow velocity is determined by measuring thechange in resistance using an external LCR meter. The experimental results indicate that theflow sensor has a high sensitivity (0.0284 ω/ms-1, a high velocity measurement limit (45ms-1 and a rapid response time (0.53 s.

  13. Scaling law and enhancement of lift generation of an insect-size hovering flexible wing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kang, Chang-kwon; Shyy, Wei

    2013-01-01

    We report a comprehensive scaling law and novel lift generation mechanisms relevant to the aerodynamic functions of structural flexibility in insect flight. Using a Navier–Stokes equation solver, fully coupled to a structural dynamics solver, we consider the hovering motion of a wing of insect size, in which the dynamics of fluid–structure interaction leads to passive wing rotation. Lift generated on the flexible wing scales with the relative shape deformation parameter, whereas the optimal lift is obtained when the wing deformation synchronizes with the imposed translation, consistent with previously reported observations for fruit flies and honeybees. Systematic comparisons with rigid wings illustrate that the nonlinear response in wing motion results in a greater peak angle compared with a simple harmonic motion, yielding higher lift. Moreover, the compliant wing streamlines its shape via camber deformation to mitigate the nonlinear lift-degrading wing–wake interaction to further enhance lift. These bioinspired aeroelastic mechanisms can be used in the development of flapping wing micro-robots. PMID:23760300

  14. Air quality and passenger comfort in an air-conditioned bus micro-environment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, Xiaoxuan; Lei, Li; Wang, Xingshen; Zhang, Yinghui

    2018-04-12

    In this study, passenger comfort and the air pollution status of the micro-environmental conditions in an air-conditioned bus were investigated through questionnaires, field measurements, and a numerical simulation. As a subjective analysis, passengers' perceptions of indoor environmental quality and comfort levels were determined from questionnaires. As an objective analysis, a numerical simulation was conducted using a discrete phase model to determine the diffusion and distribution of pollutants, including particulate matter with a diameter air quality and dissatisfactory thermal comfort conditions in Jinan's air-conditioned bus system. To solve these problems, three scenarios (schemes A, B, C) were designed to alter the ventilation parameters. According to the results of an improved simulation of these scenarios, reducing or adding air outputs would shorten the time taken to reach steady-state conditions and weaken the airflow or lower the temperature in the cabin. The airflow pathway was closely related to the layout of the air conditioning. Scheme B lowered the temperature by 0.4 K and reduced the airflow by 0.01 m/s, while scheme C reduced the volume concentration of PM 10 to 150 μg/m 3 . Changing the air supply angle could further improve the airflow and reduce the concentration of PM 10 . With regard to the perception of airflow and thermal comfort, the scheme with an airflow provided by a 60° nozzle was considered better, and the concentration of PM 10 was reduced to 130 μg/m 3 .

  15. Flight mechanics of a tailless articulated wing aircraft

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Paranjape, Aditya A; Chung, Soon-Jo; Selig, Michael S

    2011-01-01

    This paper investigates the flight mechanics of a micro aerial vehicle without a vertical tail in an effort to reverse-engineer the agility of avian flight. The key to stability and control of such a tailless aircraft lies in the ability to control the incidence angles and dihedral angles of both wings independently. The dihedral angles can be varied symmetrically on both wings to control aircraft speed independently of the angle of attack and flight path angle, while asymmetric dihedral can be used to control yaw in the absence of a vertical stabilizer. It is shown that wing dihedral angles alone can effectively regulate sideslip during rapid turns and generate a wide range of equilibrium turn rates while maintaining a constant flight speed and regulating sideslip. Numerical continuation and bifurcation analysis are used to compute trim states and assess their stability. This paper lays the foundation for design and stability analysis of a flapping wing aircraft that can switch rapidly from flapping to gliding flight for agile manoeuvring in a constrained environment.

  16. Flight mechanics of a tailless articulated wing aircraft

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Paranjape, Aditya A; Chung, Soon-Jo; Selig, Michael S, E-mail: sjchung@illinois.edu [Department of Aerospace Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801 (United States)

    2011-06-15

    This paper investigates the flight mechanics of a micro aerial vehicle without a vertical tail in an effort to reverse-engineer the agility of avian flight. The key to stability and control of such a tailless aircraft lies in the ability to control the incidence angles and dihedral angles of both wings independently. The dihedral angles can be varied symmetrically on both wings to control aircraft speed independently of the angle of attack and flight path angle, while asymmetric dihedral can be used to control yaw in the absence of a vertical stabilizer. It is shown that wing dihedral angles alone can effectively regulate sideslip during rapid turns and generate a wide range of equilibrium turn rates while maintaining a constant flight speed and regulating sideslip. Numerical continuation and bifurcation analysis are used to compute trim states and assess their stability. This paper lays the foundation for design and stability analysis of a flapping wing aircraft that can switch rapidly from flapping to gliding flight for agile manoeuvring in a constrained environment.

  17. Thermal performance of a micro-combustor for micro-gas turbine system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cao, H.L.; Xu, J.L.

    2007-01-01

    Premixed combustion of hydrogen gas and air was performed in a stainless steel based micro-annular combustor for a micro-gas turbine system. Micro-scale combustion has proved to be stable in the micro-combustor with a gap of 2 mm. The operating range of the micro-combustor was measured, and the maximum excess air ratio is up to 4.5. The distribution of the outer wall temperature and the temperature of exhaust gas of the micro-combustor with excess air ratio were obtained, and the wall temperature of the micro-combustor reaches its maximum value at the excess air ratio of 0.9 instead of 1 (stoichiometric ratio). The heat loss of the micro-combustor to the environment was calculated and even exceeds 70% of the total thermal power computed from the consumed hydrogen mass flow rate. Moreover, radiant heat transfer covers a large fraction of the total heat loss. Measures used to reduce the heat loss were proposed to improve the thermal performance of the micro-combustor. The optimal operating status of the micro-combustor and micro-gas turbine is analyzed and proposed by analyzing the relationship of the temperature of the exhaust gas of the micro-combustor with thermal power and excess air ratio. The investigation of the thermal performance of the micro-combustor is helpful to design an improved micro-combustor

  18. Vortex Lattice Simulations of Attached and Separated Flows around Flapping Wings

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Thomas Lambert

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available Flapping flight is an increasingly popular area of research, with applications to micro-unmanned air vehicles and animal flight biomechanics. Fast, but accurate methods for predicting the aerodynamic loads acting on flapping wings are of interest for designing such aircraft and optimizing thrust production. In this work, the unsteady vortex lattice method is used in conjunction with three load estimation techniques in order to predict the aerodynamic lift and drag time histories produced by flapping rectangular wings. The load estimation approaches are the Katz, Joukowski and simplified Leishman–Beddoes techniques. The simulations’ predictions are compared to experimental measurements from wind tunnel tests of a flapping and pitching wing. Three types of kinematics are investigated, pitch-leading, pure flapping and pitch lagging. It is found that pitch-leading tests can be simulated quite accurately using either the Katz or Joukowski approaches as no measurable flow separation occurs. For the pure flapping tests, the Katz and Joukowski techniques are accurate as long as the static pitch angle is greater than zero. For zero or negative static pitch angles, these methods underestimate the amplitude of the drag. The Leishman–Beddoes approach yields better drag amplitudes, but can introduce a constant negative drag offset. Finally, for the pitch-lagging tests the Leishman–Beddoes technique is again more representative of the experimental results, as long as flow separation is not too extensive. Considering the complexity of the phenomena involved, in the vast majority of cases, the lift time history is predicted with reasonable accuracy. The drag (or thrust time history is more challenging.

  19. Wind-tunnel investigation of a large-scale VTOL aircraft model with wing root and wing thrust augmentors. [Ames 40 by 80 foot wind tunnel

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aoyagi, K.; Aiken, T. N.

    1979-01-01

    Tests were conducted in the Ames 40 by 80 foot wind tunnel to determine the aerodynamic characteristics of a large-scale V/STOL aircraft model with thrust augmentors. The model had a double-delta wing of aspect ratio 1.65 with augmentors located in the wing root and the wing trailing edge. The supply air for the augmentor primary nozzles was provided by the YJ-97 turbojet engine. The airflow was apportioned approximately 74 percent to the wing root augmentor and 24 percent to wing augmentor. Results were obtained at several trailing-edge flap deflections with the nozzle jet-momentum coefficients ranging from 0 to 7.9. Three-component longitudinal data are presented with the agumentor operating with and without the horizontal tail. A limited amount of six component data are also presented.

  20. A micro-fabricated hydrogen storage module with sub-atmospheric activation and durability in air exposure

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shan, Xi; Payer, Joe H. [Corrosion and Reliability Engineering, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Akron, 302 Buchtel Common, Akron, OH 44325 (United States); Wainright, Jesse S.; Dudik, Laurie [Department of Chemical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106 (United States)

    2011-01-15

    The objective of this work was to develop a hydrogen storage module for onboard electrical power sources suitable for use in micro-power systems and micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS). Hydrogen storage materials were developed as thin-film inks to be compatible with an integrated manufacturing process. Important design aspects were (a) ready activation at sub-atmospheric hydrogen pressure and room temperature and (b) durability, i.e. capable of hundreds of absorption/desorption cycles and resistance to deactivation on exposure to air. Inks with palladium-treated intermetallic hydrogen storage alloys were developed and are shown here to be compatible with a thin-film micro-fabrication process. These hydrogen storage modules absorb hydrogen readily at atmospheric pressure, and the absorption/desorption rates remained fast even after the ink was exposed to air for 47 weeks. (author)

  1. CFD Analysis of a T-38 Wing Fence

    Science.gov (United States)

    2007-06-01

    or making major adjustments to the existing airframe. The answer lies in flow control. Flow control devices like vortex generators, winglets , and wing...fences have been used to improve the aerodynamic performance of hundreds of aircraft. Flow control is commonly added after the final phase of design...proposed by the Air Force Test Pilot School. The driving force for considering a wing fence as opposed to vane vortex generators or winglets 3 was a row of

  2. Development of the Electromagnetic Induction Type Micro Air Turbine Generator Using MEMS and Multilayer Ceramic Technology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Iiduka, A; Ishigaki, K; Takikawa, Y; Ohse, T; Saito, K; Uchikoba, F

    2011-01-01

    The miniaturized electromagnetic induction type air turbine generator is described. The micro air turbine generator rotated by the compressed air and generating electricity was fabricated by the combination of MEMS and multilayer ceramic technology. The micro generator consisted of an air turbine and a magnetic circuit. The turbine part consisted of 7 silicon layers fabricated by the MEMS technology. The magnetic circuit was fabricated by the multilayer ceramic technology based on the green sheet process. The magnetic material used in the circuit was ferrite, and the internal conductor was silver. The dimensions of the obtained generator were 3.5x4x3.5 mm. The output power was 1.92 μW. From FEM analysis of the magnetic flux, it was found that leakage of the flux affected the output power.

  3. Experimental Study on Wing Crack Behaviours in Dynamic-Static Superimposed Stress Field Using Caustics and High-Speed Photography

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    L.Y. Yang

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available During the drill-and-blast progress in rock tunnel excavation of great deep mine, rock fracture is evaluated by both blasting load and pre-exiting earth stress (pre-compression. Many pre-existing flaws in the rock mass, like micro-crack, also seriously affect the rock fracture pattern. Under blasting load with pre-compression, micro-cracks initiate, propagate and grow to be wing cracks. With an autonomous design of static-dynamic loading system, dynamic and static loads were applied on some PMMA plate specimen with pre-existing crack, and the behaviour of the wing crack was tested by caustics corroding with a high-speed photography. Four programs with different static loading modes that generate different pre-compression fields were executed, and the length, velocity of the blasting wing crack and dynamic stress intensity factor (SIF at the wing crack tip were analyzed and discussed. It is found that the behaviour of blasting-induced wing crack is affected obviously by blasting and pre-compression. And pre-compression, which is vertical to the direction of the wing crack propagation, hinders the crack propagation. Furthermore, the boundary constraint condition plays an important role on the behaviour of blasting induced crack during the experiment.

  4. Spectrally tuned structural and pigmentary coloration of birdwing butterfly wing scales.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilts, Bodo D; Matsushita, Atsuko; Arikawa, Kentaro; Stavenga, Doekele G

    2015-10-06

    The colourful wing patterns of butterflies play an important role for enhancing fitness; for instance, by providing camouflage, for interspecific mate recognition, or for aposematic display. Closely related butterfly species can have dramatically different wing patterns. The phenomenon is assumed to be caused by ecological processes with changing conditions, e.g. in the environment, and also by sexual selection. Here, we investigate the birdwing butterflies, Ornithoptera, the largest butterflies of the world, together forming a small genus in the butterfly family Papilionidae. The wings of these butterflies are marked by strongly coloured patches. The colours are caused by specially structured wing scales, which act as a chirped multilayer reflector, but the scales also contain papiliochrome pigments, which act as a spectral filter. The combined structural and pigmentary effects tune the coloration of the wing scales. The tuned colours are presumably important for mate recognition and signalling. By applying electron microscopy, (micro-)spectrophotometry and scatterometry we found that the various mechanisms of scale coloration of the different birdwing species strongly correlate with the taxonomical distribution of Ornithoptera species. © 2015 The Author(s).

  5. Phase shifts of the paired wings of butterfly diagrams

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li Kejun; Liang Hongfei; Feng Wen

    2010-01-01

    Sunspot groups observed by the Royal Greenwich Observatory/US Air Force/NOAA from 1874 May to 2008 November and the Carte Synoptique solar filaments from 1919 March to 1989 December are used to investigate the relative phase shift of the paired wings of butterfly diagrams of sunspot and filament activities. Latitudinal migration of sunspot groups (or filaments) does asynchronously occur in the northern and southern hemispheres, and there is a relative phase shift between the paired wings of their butterfly diagrams in a cycle, making the paired wings spatially asymmetrical on the solar equator. It is inferred that hemispherical solar activity strength should evolve in a similar way within the paired wings of a butterfly diagram in a cycle, demonstrating the paired wings phenomenon and showing the phase relationship between the northern and southern hemispherical solar activity strengths, as well as a relative phase shift between the paired wings of a butterfly diagram, which should bring about almost the same relative phase shift of hemispheric solar activity strength. (research papers)

  6. Pneumatic artificial muscle and its application on driving variable trailing-edge camber wing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yin, Weilong; Liu, Libo; Chen, Yijin; Liu, Yanju; Leng, Jinsong

    2010-04-01

    As a novel bionic actuator, pneumatic artificial muscle has high power to weight ratio. In this paper, the experimental setup to measure the static output force of pneumatic artificial muscle was designed and the relationship between the static output force and the air pressure was investigated. Experimental result shows the static output force of pneumatic artificial muscle decreases nonlinearly with increasing contraction ratio. A variable camber wing based on the pneumatic artificial muscle was developed and the variable camber wing model was manufactured to validate the variable camber concept. Wind tunnel tests were conducted in the low speed wind tunnel. Experimental result shows that the wing camber increases with increasing air pressure.

  7. Study on bird's & insect's wing aerodynamics and comparison of its analytical value with standard airfoil

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ali, Md. Nesar; Alam, Mahbubul; Hossain, Md. Abed; Ahmed, Md. Imteaz

    2017-06-01

    Flight is the main mode of locomotion used by most of the world's bird & insect species. This article discusses the mechanics of bird flight, with emphasis on the varied forms of bird's & insect's wings. The fundamentals of bird flight are similar to those of aircraft. Flying animals flap their wings to generate lift and thrust as well as to perform remarkable maneuvers with rapid accelerations and decelerations. Insects and birds provide illuminating examples of unsteady aerodynamics. Lift force is produced by the action of air flow on the wing, which is an airfoil. The airfoil is shaped such that the air provides a net upward force on the wing, while the movement of air is directed downward. Additional net lift may come from airflow around the bird's & insect's body in some species, especially during intermittent flight while the wings are folded or semi-folded. Bird's & insect's flight in nature are sub-divided into two stages. They are Unpowered Flight: Gliding and Soaring & Powered Flight: Flapping. When gliding, birds and insects obtain both a vertical and a forward force from their wings. When a bird & insect flaps, as opposed to gliding, its wings continue to develop lift as before, but the lift is rotated forward to provide thrust, which counteracts drag and increases its speed, which has the effect of also increasing lift to counteract its weight, allowing it to maintain height or to climb. Flapping flight is more complicated than flight with fixed wings because of the structural movement and the resulting unsteady fluid dynamics. Flapping involves two stages: the down-stroke, which provides the majority of the thrust, and the up-stroke, which can also (depending on the bird's & insect's wings) provide some thrust. Most kinds of bird & insect wing can be grouped into four types, with some falling between two of these types. These types of wings are elliptical wings, high speed wings, high aspect ratio wings and soaring wings with slots. Hovering is used

  8. Time-varying wing-twist improves aerodynamic efficiency of forward flight in butterflies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zheng, Lingxiao; Hedrick, Tyson L; Mittal, Rajat

    2013-01-01

    Insect wings can undergo significant chordwise (camber) as well as spanwise (twist) deformation during flapping flight but the effect of these deformations is not well understood. The shape and size of butterfly wings leads to particularly large wing deformations, making them an ideal test case for investigation of these effects. Here we use computational models derived from experiments on free-flying butterflies to understand the effect of time-varying twist and camber on the aerodynamic performance of these insects. High-speed videogrammetry is used to capture the wing kinematics, including deformation, of a Painted Lady butterfly (Vanessa cardui) in untethered, forward flight. These experimental results are then analyzed computationally using a high-fidelity, three-dimensional, unsteady Navier-Stokes flow solver. For comparison to this case, a set of non-deforming, flat-plate wing (FPW) models of wing motion are synthesized and subjected to the same analysis along with a wing model that matches the time-varying wing-twist observed for the butterfly, but has no deformation in camber. The simulations show that the observed butterfly wing (OBW) outperforms all the flat-plate wings in terms of usable force production as well as the ratio of lift to power by at least 29% and 46%, respectively. This increase in efficiency of lift production is at least three-fold greater than reported for other insects. Interestingly, we also find that the twist-only-wing (TOW) model recovers much of the performance of the OBW, demonstrating that wing-twist, and not camber is key to forward flight in these insects. The implications of this on the design of flapping wing micro-aerial vehicles are discussed.

  9. Time-varying wing-twist improves aerodynamic efficiency of forward flight in butterflies.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lingxiao Zheng

    Full Text Available Insect wings can undergo significant chordwise (camber as well as spanwise (twist deformation during flapping flight but the effect of these deformations is not well understood. The shape and size of butterfly wings leads to particularly large wing deformations, making them an ideal test case for investigation of these effects. Here we use computational models derived from experiments on free-flying butterflies to understand the effect of time-varying twist and camber on the aerodynamic performance of these insects. High-speed videogrammetry is used to capture the wing kinematics, including deformation, of a Painted Lady butterfly (Vanessa cardui in untethered, forward flight. These experimental results are then analyzed computationally using a high-fidelity, three-dimensional, unsteady Navier-Stokes flow solver. For comparison to this case, a set of non-deforming, flat-plate wing (FPW models of wing motion are synthesized and subjected to the same analysis along with a wing model that matches the time-varying wing-twist observed for the butterfly, but has no deformation in camber. The simulations show that the observed butterfly wing (OBW outperforms all the flat-plate wings in terms of usable force production as well as the ratio of lift to power by at least 29% and 46%, respectively. This increase in efficiency of lift production is at least three-fold greater than reported for other insects. Interestingly, we also find that the twist-only-wing (TOW model recovers much of the performance of the OBW, demonstrating that wing-twist, and not camber is key to forward flight in these insects. The implications of this on the design of flapping wing micro-aerial vehicles are discussed.

  10. Mother Nature inspires new wind turbine wing

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sønderberg Petersen, L.

    2007-01-01

    The sight of a bird of prey hanging immobile in the air while its wings continuously adjust themselves slightly in relation to the wind in order to keep the bird in the same position in the air, is a sight that most of us have admired, including the windenergy scientists at Risø DTU. They have...... started transferring the principle to wind turbine blades to make them adaptive...

  11. Silencing abnormal wing disc gene of the Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri disrupts adult wing development and increases nymph mortality.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ibrahim El-Shesheny

    Full Text Available Huanglongbing (HLB causes considerable economic losses to citrus industries worldwide. Its management depends on controlling of the Asian citrus Psyllid (ACP, the vector of the bacterium, Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (CLas, the causal agent of HLB. Silencing genes by RNA interference (RNAi is a promising tool to explore gene functions as well as control pests. In the current study, abnormal wing disc (awd gene associated with wing development in insects is used to interfere with the flight of psyllids. Our study showed that transcription of awd is development-dependent and the highest level was found in the last instar (5(th of the nymphal stage. Micro-application (topical application of dsRNA to 5(th instar of nymphs caused significant nymphal mortality and adult wing-malformation. These adverse effects in ACP were positively correlated with the amounts of dsRNA used. A qRT-PCR analysis confirmed the dsRNA-mediated transcriptional down-regulation of the awd gene. Significant down-regulation was required to induce a wing-malformed phenotype. No effect was found when dsRNA-gfp was used, indicating the specific effect of dsRNA-awd. Our findings suggest a role for awd in ACP wing development and metamorphosis. awd could serve as a potential target for insect management either via direct application of dsRNA or by producing transgenic plants expressing dsRNA-awd. These strategies will help to mitigate HLB by controlling ACP.

  12. Aerodynamics power consumption for mechanical flapping wings undergoing flapping and pitching motion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Razak, N. A.; Dimitriadis, G.; Razaami, A. F.

    2017-07-01

    Lately, due to the growing interest in Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAV), interest in flapping flight has been rekindled. The reason lies in the improved performance of flapping wing flight at low Reynolds number regime. Many studies involving flapping wing flight focused on the generation of unsteady aerodynamic forces such as lift and thrust. There is one aspect of flapping wing flight that received less attention. The aspect is aerodynamic power consumption. Since most mechanical flapping wing aircraft ever designed are battery powered, power consumption is fundamental in improving flight endurance. This paper reports the results of experiments carried out on mechanical wings under going active root flapping and pitching in the wind tunnel. The objective of the work is to investigate the effect of the pitch angle oscillations and wing profile on the power consumption of flapping wings via generation of unsteady aerodynamic forces. The experiments were repeated for different airspeeds, flapping and pitching kinematics, geometric angle of attack and wing sections with symmetric and cambered airfoils. A specially designed mechanical flapper modelled on large migrating birds was used. It will be shown that, under pitch leading conditions, less power is required to overcome the unsteady aerodnamics forces. The study finds less power requirement for downstroke compared to upstroke motion. Overall results demonstrate power consumption depends directly on the unsteady lift force.

  13. Protection against wing icing for Airbus A300 and A310

    Science.gov (United States)

    Woelfer, G.

    1981-01-01

    To improve economy of operation, it is now planned to modify the anti-icing system used on the A300 Airbus wing. Thus, for the A310 Airbus, the deicing system will be applied to only half the wing length. Other essential modifications are a substantial simplification of the warm-air system and discontinuation of the use of a double wall in slats.

  14. Preliminary development of a wing in ground effect vehicle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abidin, Razali; Ahamat, Mohamad Asmidzam; Ahmad, Tarmizi; Saad, Mohd Rasdan; Hafizi, Ezzat

    2018-02-01

    Wing in ground vehicle is one of the mode of transportation that allows high speed movement over water by travelling few meters above the water level. Through this manouver strategy, a cushion of compressed air exists between the wing in ground vehicle wings and water. This significantly increase the lift force, thus reducing the necessity in having a long wing span. Our project deals with the development of wing in ground vehicle with the capability of transporting four people. The total weight of this wing in ground vehicle was estimated at 5.4 kN to enable the prediction on required wing area, minimum takeoff velocity, drag force and engine power requirement. The required takeoff velocity is decreases as the lift coefficient increases, and our current mathematical model shows the takeoff velocity at 50 m/s avoid the significant increase in lift coefficient for the wing area of 5 m2. At the velocity of 50 m/s, the drag force created by this wing in ground vehicle is well below 1 kN, which required a 100-120 kW of engine power if the propeller has the efficiency of 0.7. Assessment on the stresses and deflection of the hull structural indicate the capability of plywood to withstand the expected load. However, excessive deflection was expected in the rear section which requires a minor structural modification. In the near future, we expect that the wind tunnel tests of this wing in ground vehicle model would enable more definite prediction on the important parameters related to its performance.

  15. Aerodynamics, sensing and control of insect-scale flapping-wing flight

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shyy, Wei; Kang, Chang-kwon; Chirarattananon, Pakpong; Ravi, Sridhar; Liu, Hao

    2016-01-01

    There are nearly a million known species of flying insects and 13 000 species of flying warm-blooded vertebrates, including mammals, birds and bats. While in flight, their wings not only move forward relative to the air, they also flap up and down, plunge and sweep, so that both lift and thrust can be generated and balanced, accommodate uncertain surrounding environment, with superior flight stability and dynamics with highly varied speeds and missions. As the size of a flyer is reduced, the wing-to-body mass ratio tends to decrease as well. Furthermore, these flyers use integrated system consisting of wings to generate aerodynamic forces, muscles to move the wings, and sensing and control systems to guide and manoeuvre. In this article, recent advances in insect-scale flapping-wing aerodynamics, flexible wing structures, unsteady flight environment, sensing, stability and control are reviewed with perspective offered. In particular, the special features of the low Reynolds number flyers associated with small sizes, thin and light structures, slow flight with comparable wind gust speeds, bioinspired fabrication of wing structures, neuron-based sensing and adaptive control are highlighted. PMID:27118897

  16. The NATO SOF Air Wing: A Basing Decision

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-12-01

    11 Susan Hesse Owen & Mark S. Daskin , “Strategic Facility Location: A Review,” European Journal of Operational Research 111, (1998), 423. 6 the...Journal of Travel Research 45, (2006):167–174. Owen, Susan Hesse and Daskin , Mark S. “Strategic Facility Location: A Review.” European Journal of...WING: A BASING DECISION by James M. Cox December 2012 Thesis Advisor: William Fox Second Reader: Brian Greenshields THIS PAGE

  17. On fluttering modes for aircraft wing model in subsonic air flow.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shubov, Marianna A

    2014-12-08

    The paper deals with unstable aeroelastic modes for aircraft wing model in subsonic, incompressible, inviscid air flow. In recent author's papers asymptotic, spectral and stability analysis of the model has been carried out. The model is governed by a system of two coupled integrodifferential equations and a two-parameter family of boundary conditions modelling action of self-straining actuators. The Laplace transform of the solution is given in terms of the 'generalized resolvent operator', which is a meromorphic operator-valued function of the spectral parameter λ, whose poles are called the aeroelastic modes. The residues at these poles are constructed from the corresponding mode shapes. The spectral characteristics of the model are asymptotically close to the ones of a simpler system, which is called the reduced model. For the reduced model, the following result is shown: for each value of subsonic speed, there exists a radius such that all aeroelastic modes located outside the circle of this radius centred at zero are stable. Unstable modes, whose number is always finite, can occur only inside this 'circle of instability'. Explicit estimate of the 'instability radius' in terms of model parameters is given.

  18. Experiments on a low aspect ratio wing at low Reynolds numbers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morse, Daniel R.

    At the start of the 21st century much of the focus of aircraft design has been turned to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) which generally operate at much lower speeds in higher risk areas than manned aircraft. One subset of UAVs are Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs) which usually are no larger than 20cm and rely on non-traditional shapes to generate lift at very low velocities. This purpose of this work is to describe, in detail with experimental methods, the flow field around a low aspect ratio wing operating at low Reynolds numbers and at high angles of attack. Quantitative measurements are obtained by Three Component Time Resolved Particle Image Velocimetry (3C TR PIV) which describe the mean and turbulent flow field. This research focuses on the leading edge separation zone and the vortex shedding process which occurs at the leading edge. Streamwise wing tip vortices which dominate the lift characteristics are described with flow visualization and 3C TR PIV measurements. Turbulent Kinetic Energy (TKE) is described at the leading edge over several angles of attack. Turbulent Reynolds stresses in all three directions are described over the wing span and several Reynolds numbers. Two primary cyclic processes are observed within the flow field; one low frequency oscillation in the separated region and one high frequency event associated with leading edge vortex formation and convection. Two length scales are proposed and are shown to match well with each other, one based on leading edge vortex shedding frequency and convective velocity and the other based on mean vortex separation distance. A new method of rendering velocity frequency content over large data sets is proposed and used to illustrate the different frequencies observed at the leading edge.

  19. Avian Wings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Tianshu; Kuykendoll, K.; Rhew, R.; Jones, S.

    2004-01-01

    This paper describes the avian wing geometry (Seagull, Merganser, Teal and Owl) extracted from non-contact surface measurements using a three-dimensional laser scanner. The geometric quantities, including the camber line and thickness distribution of airfoil, wing planform, chord distribution, and twist distribution, are given in convenient analytical expressions. Thus, the avian wing surfaces can be generated and the wing kinematics can be simulated. The aerodynamic characteristics of avian airfoils in steady inviscid flows are briefly discussed. The avian wing kinematics is recovered from videos of three level-flying birds (Crane, Seagull and Goose) based on a two-jointed arm model. A flapping seagull wing in the 3D physical space is re-constructed from the extracted wing geometry and kinematics.

  20. A comparative study of the hovering efficiency of flapping and revolving wings

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zheng, L; Mittal, R; Hedrick, T

    2013-01-01

    Direct numerical simulations are used to explore the hovering performance and efficiency for hawkmoth-inspired flapping and revolving wings at Reynolds (Re) numbers varying from 50 to 4800. This range covers the gamut from small (fruit fly size) to large (hawkmoth size) flying insects and is also relevant to the design of micro- and nano-aerial vehicles. The flapping wing configuration chosen here corresponds to a hovering hawkmoth and the model is derived from high-speed videogrammetry of this insect. The revolving wing configuration also employs the wings of the hawkmoth but these are arranged in a dual-blade configuration typical of helicopters. Flow for both of these configurations is simulated over the range of Reynolds numbers of interest and the aerodynamic performance of the two compared. The comparison of these two seemingly different configurations raises issues regarding the appropriateness of various performance metrics and even characteristic scales; these are also addressed in the current study. Finally, the difference in the performance between the two is correlated with the flow physics of the two configurations. The study indicates that viscous forces dominate the aerodynamic power expenditure of the revolving wing to a degree not observed for the flapping wing. Consequently, the lift-to-power metric of the revolving wing declines rapidly with decreasing Reynolds numbers resulting in a hovering performance that is at least a factor of 2 lower than the flapping wing at Reynolds numbers less than about 100. (paper)

  1. Unsteady Aerodynamic Investigation of the Propeller-Wing Interaction for a Rocket Launched Unmanned Air Vehicle

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    G. Q. Zhang

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The aerodynamic characteristics of propeller-wing interaction for the rocket launched UAV have been investigated numerically by means of sliding mesh technology. The corresponding forces and moments have been collected for axial wing placements ranging from 0.056 to 0.5D and varied rotating speeds. The slipstream generated by the rotating propeller has little effects on the lift characteristics of the whole UAV. The drag can be seen to remain unchanged as the wing's location moves progressively closer to the propeller until 0.056D away from the propeller, where a nearly 20% increase occurred sharply. The propeller position has a negligible effect on the overall thrust and torque of the propeller. The efficiency affected by the installation angle of the propeller blade has also been analyzed. Based on the pressure cloud and streamlines, the vortices generated by propeller, propeller-wing interaction, and wing tip have also been captured and analyzed.

  2. Moth wing scales slightly increase the absorbance of bat echolocation calls.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jinyao Zeng

    Full Text Available Coevolutionary arms races between predators and prey can lead to a diverse range of foraging and defense strategies, such as countermeasures between nocturnal insects and echolocating bats. Here, we show how the fine structure of wing scales may help moths by slightly increasing sound absorbance at frequencies typically used in bat echolocation. Using four widespread species of moths and butterflies, we found that moth scales are composed of honeycomb-like hollows similar to sound-absorbing material, but these were absent from butterfly scales. Micro-reverberation chamber experiments revealed that moth wings were more absorbent at the frequencies emitted by many echolocating bats (40-60 kHz than butterfly wings. Furthermore, moth wings lost absorbance at these frequencies when scales were removed, which suggests that some moths have evolved stealth tactics to reduce their conspicuousness to echolocating bats. Although the benefits to moths are relatively small in terms of reducing their target strengths, scales may nonetheless confer survival advantages by reducing the detection distances of moths by bats by 5-6%.

  3. Performance of a prototype micro wind turbine in the manmade wind field from air conditioner of buildings

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    K. H. Goh

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available Harnessing waste energy from the manmade air fields of buildings presents a new area of renewable energy to explore. Due to the unpredictability of the natural wind, this study is to evaluate the practicality for harnessing waste energy from the air conditioner exhaust units which are a more constant and predictable source available in the buildings. A prototype of the micro wind turbine has been designed to minimize the negative effect of the exhaust sources. After the micro wind turbine was manufactured, the performance of the turbine was tested in the selected air conditioner exhaust unit. Increasing the rotor solidity and decreasing the resistance of the generator contribute to improved starting torque and decreased generator break in torque respectively in the design. The power generation of the micro wind turbine increases with an increase of the rotor speed. The 24-hour operation of the prototype presents an observation for both exhaust performance and power generation prediction when the prototype is mounted on the exhaust unit.

  4. A noncontact intraocular pressure measurement device using a micro reflected air pressure sensor for the prediagnosis of glaucoma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Kyoung Hwan; Kim, Byeong Hee; Seo, Young Ho

    2012-01-01

    This study investigates a novel, portable tonometer using a micro reflected air pressure sensor for the prediagnosis of glaucoma. Because glaucoma progresses slowly and is not painful, glaucoma patients require a portable prediagnosis system to periodically measure intraocular pressure at home. Conventionally, intraocular pressure is measured by an air-puff tonometer whereby the cornea is deformed by a short pulse of air pressure and the magnitude of the corneal deformation is measured by optic systems such as a combination of laser- and photodiodes. In this study, a micro reflected air pressure sensor was designed, fabricated, and tested in order to measure the magnitude of corneal deformation without optic systems. In an experimental study, artificial eyes with different internal pressures were fabricated and these pressures were measured by the aforementioned system. (paper)

  5. A computational study on the influence of insect wing geometry on bee flight mechanics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jeffrey Feaster

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Two-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD is applied to better understand the effects of wing cross-sectional morphology on flow field and force production. This study investigates the influence of wing cross-section on insect scale flapping flight performance, for the first time, using a morphologically representative model of a bee (Bombus pensylvanicus wing. The bee wing cross-section was determined using a micro-computed tomography scanner. The results of the bee wing are compared with flat and elliptical cross-sections, representative of those used in modern literature, to determine the impact of profile variation on aerodynamic performance. The flow field surrounding each cross-section and the resulting forces are resolved using CFD for a flight speed range of 1 to 5 m/s. A significant variation in vortex formation is found when comparing the ellipse and flat plate with the true bee wing. During the upstroke, the bee and approximate wing cross-sections have a much shorter wake structure than the flat plate or ellipse. During the downstroke, the flat plate and elliptical cross-sections generate a single leading edge vortex, while the approximate and bee wings generate numerous, smaller structures that are shed throughout the stroke. Comparing the instantaneous aerodynamic forces on the wing, the ellipse and flat plate sections deviate progressively with velocity from the true bee wing. Based on the present findings, a simplified cross-section of an insect wing can misrepresent the flow field and force production. We present the first aerodynamic study using a true insect wing cross-section and show that the wing corrugation increases the leading edge vortex formation frequency for a given set of kinematics.

  6. Asymmetric ratchet effect for directional transport of fog drops on static and dynamic butterfly wings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Chengcheng; Ju, Jie; Zheng, Yongmei; Jiang, Lei

    2014-02-25

    Inspired by novel creatures, researchers have developed varieties of fog drop transport systems and made significant contributions to the fields of heat transferring, water collecting, antifogging, and so on. Up to now, most of the efforts in directional fog drop transport have been focused on static surfaces. Considering it is not practical to keep surfaces still all the time in reality, conducting investigations on surfaces that can transport fog drops in both static and dynamic states has become more and more important. Here we report the wings of Morpho deidamia butterflies can directionally transport fog drops in both static and dynamic states. This directional drop transport ability results from the micro/nano ratchet-like structure of butterfly wings: the surface of butterfly wings is composed of overlapped scales, and the scales are covered with porous asymmetric ridges. Influenced by this special structure, fog drops on static wings are transported directionally as a result of the fog drops' asymmetric growth and coalescence. Fog drops on vibrating wings are propelled directionally due to the fog drops' asymmetric dewetting from the wings.

  7. Forewings match the formation of leading-edge vortices and dominate aerodynamic force production in revolving insect wings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Di; Kolomenskiy, Dmitry; Nakata, Toshiyuki; Liu, Hao

    2017-10-20

    In many flying insects, forewings and hindwings are coupled mechanically to achieve flapping flight synchronously while being driven by action of the forewings. How the forewings and hindwings as well as their morphologies contribute to aerodynamic force production and flight control remains unclear yet. Here we demonstrate that the forewings can produce most of the aerodynamic forces even with the hindwings removed through a computational fluid dynamic study of three revolving insect wing models, which are identical to the wing morphologies and Reynolds numbers of hawkmoth (Manduca sexta), bumblebee (Bombus ignitus) and fruitfly (Drosophila melanogaster). We find that the forewing morphologies match the formation of leading-edge vortices (LEV) and are responsible for generating sufficient lift forces at the mean angles of attack and the Reynolds numbers where the three representative insects fly. The LEV formation and pressure loading keep almost unchanged with the hindwing removed, and even lead to some improvement in power factor and aerodynamic efficiency. Moreover, our results indicate that the size and strength of the LEVs can be well quantified with introduction of a conical LEV angle, which varies remarkably with angles of attack and Reynolds numbers but within the forewing region while showing less sensitivity to the wing morphologies. This implies that the forewing morphology very likely plays a dominant role in achieving low-Reynolds number aerodynamic performance in natural flyers as well as in revolving and/or flapping micro air vehicles. © 2017 IOP Publishing Ltd.

  8. Effects of wing locations on wing rock induced by forebody vortices

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ma Baofeng

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available Previous studies have shown that asymmetric vortex wakes over slender bodies exhibit a multi-vortex structure with an alternate arrangement along a body axis at high angle of attack. In this investigation, the effects of wing locations along a body axis on wing rock induced by forebody vortices was studied experimentally at a subcritical Reynolds number based on a body diameter. An artificial perturbation was added onto the nose tip to fix the orientations of forebody vortices. Particle image velocimetry was used to identify flow patterns of forebody vortices in static situations, and time histories of wing rock were obtained using a free-to-roll rig. The results show that the wing locations can affect significantly the motion patterns of wing rock owing to the variation of multi-vortex patterns of forebody vortices. As the wing locations make the forebody vortices a two-vortex pattern, the wing body exhibits regularly divergence and fixed-point motion with azimuthal variations of the tip perturbation. If a three-vortex pattern exists over the wing, however, the wing-rock patterns depend on the impact of the highest vortex and newborn vortex. As the three vortices together influence the wing flow, wing-rock patterns exhibit regularly fixed-points and limit-cycled oscillations. With the wing moving backwards, the newborn vortex becomes stronger, and wing-rock patterns become fixed-points, chaotic oscillations, and limit-cycled oscillations. With further backward movement of wings, the vortices are far away from the upper surface of wings, and the motions exhibit divergence, limit-cycled oscillations and fixed-points. For the rearmost location of the wing, the wing body exhibits stochastic oscillations and fixed-points.

  9. Exploring the Role of Habitat on the Wettability of Cicada Wings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oh, Junho; Dana, Catherine E; Hong, Sungmin; Román, Jessica K; Jo, Kyoo Dong; Hong, Je Won; Nguyen, Jonah; Cropek, Donald M; Alleyne, Marianne; Miljkovic, Nenad

    2017-08-16

    Evolutionary pressure has pushed many extant species to develop micro/nanostructures that can significantly affect wettability and enable functionalities such as droplet jumping, self-cleaning, antifogging, antimicrobial, and antireflectivity. In particular, significant effort is underway to understand the insect wing surface structure to establish rational design tools for the development of novel engineered materials. Most studies, however, have focused on superhydrophobic wings obtained from a single insect species, in particular, the Psaltoda claripennis cicada. Here, we investigate the relationship between the spatially dependent wing wettability, topology, and droplet jumping behavior of multiple cicada species and their habitat, lifecycle, and interspecies relatedness. We focus on cicada wings of four different species: Neotibicen pruinosus, N. tibicen, Megatibicen dorsatus, and Magicicada septendecim and take a comparative approach. Using spatially resolved microgoniometry, scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and high speed optical microscopy, we show that within cicada species, the wettability of wings is spatially homogeneous across wing cells. All four species were shown to have truncated conical pillars with widely varying length scales ranging from 50 to 400 nm in height. Comparison of the wettability revealed three cicada species with wings that are superhydrophobic (>150°) with low contact angle hysteresis (<5°), resulting in stable droplet jumping behavior. The fourth, more distantly related species (Ma. septendecim) showed only moderate hydrophobic behavior, eliminating some of the beneficial surface functional aspects for this cicada. Correlation between cicada habitat and wing wettability yielded little connection as wetter, swampy environments do not necessarily equate to higher measured wing hydrophobicity. The results, however, do point to species relatedness and reproductive strategy as a closer proxy for predicting

  10. Instantaneous planar pressure determination from particle image velocimetry

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    De Kat, R.

    2012-01-01

    Forces on flapping or rotating wings, like flapping wings of micro air vehicles or blades of wind turbines are of great interest to engineers. To investigate the ways birds and insects fly, forces created by flapping wings are of importance to biologists. The pressure field, combined with the

  11. Wind-tunnel Tests of a Hall High-life Wing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weick, Fred E; Sanders, Robert

    1932-01-01

    Wind-tunnel tests have been made to find the lift, drag, and center-of-pressure characteristics of a Hall high-lift wing model. The Hall wing is essentially a split-flap airfoil with an internal air passage. Air enters the passage through an opening in the lower surface somewhat back of and parallel to the leading edge, and flows out through an opening made by deflecting the rear portion of the under surface downward as a flap. For ordinary flight conditions the front opening and the rear flap can be closed, providing in effect a conventional airfoil (the Clark Y in this case). The tests were made with various flap settings and with the entrance to the passage both open and closed. The highest lift coefficient found, C(sub L) = 2.08, was obtained with the passage closed.

  12. Electro-Magnetic Flow Control to Enable Natural Laminar Flow Wings

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — This research team has developed a solid-state electromagnetic device that, when embedded along the leading edge of an aircraft wing, can disrupt laminar air flow on...

  13. Butterfly wing colours : scale beads make white pierid wings brighter

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Stavenga, DG; Stowe, S; Siebke, K; Zeil, J; Arikawa, K

    2004-01-01

    The wing-scale morphologies of the pierid butterflies Pieris rapae (small white) and Delias nigrina (common jezabel), and the heliconine Heliconius melpomene are compared and related to the wing-reflectance spectra. Light scattering at the wing scales determines the wing reflectance, but when the

  14. Wake Characteristics of a Flapping Wing Optimized for both Aerial and Aquatic Flight

    Science.gov (United States)

    Izraelevitz, Jacob; Kotidis, Miranda; Triantafyllou, Michael

    2017-11-01

    Multiple aquatic bird species (including murres, puffins, and other auks) employ a single actuator to propel themselves in two different fluid media: both flying and swimming using primarily their flapping wings. This impressive design compromise could be adopted by engineered implementations of dual aerial/aquatic robotic platforms, as it offers an existence proof for favorable flow physics. We discuss one realization of a 3D flapping wing actuation system for use in both air and water. The wing oscillates by the root and employs an active in-line motion degree-of-freedom. An experiment-coupled optimization routine generates the wing trajectories, controlling the unsteady forces throughout each flapping cycle. We elucidate the wakes of these wing trajectories using dye visualization, correlating the wake vortex structures with simultaneous force measurements. After optimization, the wing generates the large force envelope necessary for propulsion in both fluid media, and furthermore, demonstrate improved control over the unsteady wake.

  15. Wing in Ground Effect over a Wavy Surface

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Valentin Adrian Jean BUTOESCU

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available A vortex method has been used to investigate the effect of a wavy ground on the aerodynamic forces acting on a wing that flies in its proximity. The air is considered inviscid and incompressible. The problem is obviously unsteady, and the solutions were found numerically.

  16. Transport Mechanisms Governing initial Leading-Edge Vortex Development on a Pitching Wing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wabick, Kevin; Berdon, Randall; Buchholz, James; Johnson, Kyle; Thurow, Brian

    2017-11-01

    The formation and evolution of Leading Edge Vortices (LEVs) are ubiquitous in natural fliers and maneuvering wings, and have a profound impact on aerodynamic loads. The formation of an LEV is experimentally investigated on a pitching flat-plate wing of aspect-ratio 2, and dimensionless pitch rates of k = Ωc / 2 U of 0.1, 0.2, and 0.5, at a Reynolds number of 104. The sources and sinks of vorticity that contribute to the growth and evolution of the LEV are investigated at spanwise regions of interest, and their relative balance is compared to other wing kinematics, and the case of a two-dimensional pitching wing. This work is supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (Grant Number FA9550-16-1-0107, Dr. Douglas Smith, program manager).

  17. Pretreated Butterfly Wings for Tuning the Selective Vapor Sensing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Piszter, Gábor; Kertész, Krisztián; Bálint, Zsolt; Biró, László Péter

    2016-09-07

    Photonic nanoarchitectures occurring in the scales of Blue butterflies are responsible for their vivid blue wing coloration. These nanoarchitectures are quasi-ordered nanocomposites which are constituted from a chitin matrix with embedded air holes. Therefore, they can act as chemically selective sensors due to their color changes when mixing volatile vapors in the surrounding atmosphere which condensate into the nanoarchitecture through capillary condensation. Using a home-built vapor-mixing setup, the spectral changes caused by the different air + vapor mixtures were efficiently characterized. It was found that the spectral shift is vapor-specific and proportional with the vapor concentration. We showed that the conformal modification of the scale surface by atomic layer deposition and by ethanol pretreatment can significantly alter the optical response and chemical selectivity, which points the way to the efficient production of sensor arrays based on the knowledge obtained through the investigation of modified butterfly wings.

  18. Aircraft Aerodynamic Parameter Detection Using Micro Hot-Film Flow Sensor Array and BP Neural Network Identification

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ruiyi Que

    2012-08-01

    Full Text Available Air speed, angle of sideslip and angle of attack are fundamental aerodynamic parameters for controlling most aircraft. For small aircraft for which conventional detecting devices are too bulky and heavy to be utilized, a novel and practical methodology by which the aerodynamic parameters are inferred using a micro hot-film flow sensor array mounted on the surface of the wing is proposed. A back-propagation neural network is used to model the coupling relationship between readings of the sensor array and aerodynamic parameters. Two different sensor arrangements are tested in wind tunnel experiments and dependence of the system performance on the sensor arrangement is analyzed.

  19. The leading-edge vortex of swift wing-shaped delta wings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muir, Rowan Eveline; Arredondo-Galeana, Abel; Viola, Ignazio Maria

    2017-08-01

    Recent investigations on the aerodynamics of natural fliers have illuminated the significance of the leading-edge vortex (LEV) for lift generation in a variety of flight conditions. A well-documented example of an LEV is that generated by aircraft with highly swept, delta-shaped wings. While the wing aerodynamics of a manoeuvring aircraft, a bird gliding and a bird in flapping flight vary significantly, it is believed that this existing knowledge can serve to add understanding to the complex aerodynamics of natural fliers. In this investigation, a model non-slender delta-shaped wing with a sharp leading edge is tested at low Reynolds number, along with a delta wing of the same design, but with a modified trailing edge inspired by the wing of a common swift Apus apus . The effect of the tapering swift wing on LEV development and stability is compared with the flow structure over the unmodified delta wing model through particle image velocimetry. For the first time, a leading-edge vortex system consisting of a dual or triple LEV is recorded on a swift wing-shaped delta wing, where such a system is found across all tested conditions. It is shown that the spanwise location of LEV breakdown is governed by the local chord rather than Reynolds number or angle of attack. These findings suggest that the trailing-edge geometry of the swift wing alone does not prevent the common swift from generating an LEV system comparable with that of a delta-shaped wing.

  20. Thermal performance of solar air collection-storage system with phase change material based on flat micro-heat pipe arrays

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, Teng-yue; Diao, Yan-hua; Zhu, Ting-ting; Zhao, Yao-hua; Liu, Jing; Wei, Xiang-qian

    2017-01-01

    Highlights: • A new type of solar air collection-storage thermal system with PCM is proposed. • Flat micro-heat pipe array is used as the core heat transfer element. • Air volume flow rate influence charging and discharging time obviously. • Air-side thermal resistance dominates during charging and discharging. - Abstract: In this study, a new type of solar air collection-storage thermal system (ACSTS) with phase change material (PCM) is designed using flat micro-heat pipe arrays (FMHPA) as the heat transfer core element. The solar air collector comprises FMHPA and vacuum tubes. The latent thermal storage device (LTSD) utilizes lauric acid, which is a type of fatty acid, as PCM. The experiments test the performance of collector efficiency and charging and discharging time of thermal storage device through different air volume flow rates. After a range of tests, high air volume flow rate is concluded to contribute to high collector efficiency and short charging and discharging time and enhance instantaneous heat transfer, whereas an air volume flow rate of 60 m"3/h during discharging provides a steady outlet temperature. The cumulative heat transfer during discharging is between 4210 and 4300 kJ.

  1. The Characterization of Material Properties and Structural Dynamics of the Manduca Sexta Forewing for Application to Flapping Wing Micro Air Vehicle Design

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-09-13

    done by using a Trek Inc. Model PZD700 M/S high voltage piezo amplifier that is capable of generating ±700V at ± 200 mA. This amplifier is also...Actuator”. NASA ICASE Report, 8, 2000. 39. Karpelson, M., G.Y. Wei, and R.J. Wood. “A Review of Actuation and Power Electronics Options for Flapping-Wing...Mechanics of Laminated Composite Plates. NASA , 1994. Reference Publication 1351. 60. Nguyen, Q.V., H.C. Park, N.S. Goo, and D. Byun. “Aerodynamic force

  2. The micro turbine: the MIT example; La micro turbine: l'exemple du MIT

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ribaud, Y. [Office National d' Etudes et de Recherches Aerospatiales (ONERA-DEFA), 92 - Chatillon (France)

    2001-10-01

    The micro turbine study began a few years ago at the MIT, with the participation of specialists from different fields. The purpose is the development of a MEMS (micro electro mechanical systems) based, 1 cm in diameter, micro gas turbine. Potential applications are devoted to micro drone propulsion, electric power generation for portable power sources in order to replace heavy Lithium batteries, satellite motorization, the surface distributed power for boundary suction on plane wings. The manufacturing constraints at such small scales lead to 2-D extruded shapes. The physical constraints stem from viscous effects and from limitations given by 2-D geometry. The time scales are generally shorter than for conventional machines. Otherwise the material properties are better at such length scales. Transposition from conventional turbomachinery laws is no more applicable and new design methods must be established. The present paper highlights the project progress and the technology breakthroughs. (author)

  3. The leading-edge vortex of swift-wing shaped delta wings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muir, Rowan; Arredondo-Galeana, Abel; Viola, Ignazio Maria

    2017-11-01

    Recent investigations on the aerodynamics of natural fliers have illuminated the significance of the Leading-Edge Vortex (LEV) for lift generation in a variety of flight conditions. In this investigation, a model non-slender delta shaped wing with a sharp leading-edge is tested at low Reynolds Number, along with a delta wing of the same design, but with a modified trailing edge inspired by the wing of a common swift Apus apus. The effect of the tapering swift wing on LEV development and stability is compared with the flow structure over the un-modified delta wing model through particle image velocimetry. For the first time, a leading-edge vortex system consisting of a dual or triple LEV is recorded on a swift-wing shaped delta wing, where such a system is found across all tested conditions. It is shown that the spanwise location of LEV breakdown is governed by the local chord rather than Reynolds Number or angle of attack. These findings suggest that the trailing-edge geometry of the swift wing alone does not prevent the common swift from generating an LEV system comparable with that of a delta shaped wing. This work received funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council [EP/M506515/1] and the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACYT).

  4. Can Wing Tip Vortices Be Accurately Simulated?

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-07-01

    Aerodynamics , Flow Visualization, Numerical Investigation, Aero Suite 16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: Unclassified 17. LIMITATION OF ABSTRACT 18...additional tail buffeting.2 In commercial applications, winglets have been installed on passenger aircraft to minimize vortex formation and reduce lift...air. In military applications, wing tip In commercial applications, winglets have been installed on passenger aircraft to minimize increases with downstream distances.

  5. Performance of direct-driven flapping-wing actuator with piezoelectric single-crystal PIN-PMN-PT

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ozaki, Takashi; Hamaguchi, Kanae

    2018-02-01

    We present a prototype flapping-wing actuator with a direct-driven mechanism to generate lift in micro- and nano-aerial vehicles. This mechanism has an advantage of simplicity because it has no transmission system between the actuator and wing. We fabricated the piezoelectric unimorph actuator from single-crystal PIN-PMN-PT, which achieved a lift force up to 1.45 mN, a value about 1.9 times larger than the mass of the actuator itself. This is the first reported demonstration of an insect-scale actuator with a direct-driven mechanism that can generate a lift force greater than its own weight.

  6. Pretreated Butterfly Wings for Tuning the Selective Vapor Sensing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gábor Piszter

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available Photonic nanoarchitectures occurring in the scales of Blue butterflies are responsible for their vivid blue wing coloration. These nanoarchitectures are quasi-ordered nanocomposites which are constituted from a chitin matrix with embedded air holes. Therefore, they can act as chemically selective sensors due to their color changes when mixing volatile vapors in the surrounding atmosphere which condensate into the nanoarchitecture through capillary condensation. Using a home-built vapor-mixing setup, the spectral changes caused by the different air + vapor mixtures were efficiently characterized. It was found that the spectral shift is vapor-specific and proportional with the vapor concentration. We showed that the conformal modification of the scale surface by atomic layer deposition and by ethanol pretreatment can significantly alter the optical response and chemical selectivity, which points the way to the efficient production of sensor arrays based on the knowledge obtained through the investigation of modified butterfly wings.

  7. Supplemental Environmental Assessment for the Mid-Bay Bridge Connector Phases 2 and 3, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-08-03

    D. Rodriigue;c 96 CEGICEVS PEPARTMENT OF THE AWR FORCE HEADQUARTERS 96TH AIR &ASE WING (AFMC) EGUN AJR FORCE BASE, FLORIDA 501 Deleon Stteet...Supplemental Environmental Assessment Maria D. Rodriguez 96CEG/CEVS DEPARTMENT OF THE AiR FORCE HEADQUARTERS 96Tit AIR BASE WING (I’ fMC) EGUN AIR FORCE...BASE WING (AFMC) EGUN AIR fORCE BASE, FLORIDA Historic Preservation Specialist Old Post Office Building 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Suite 803

  8. Elastically Shaped Wing Optimization and Aircraft Concept for Improved Cruise Efficiency

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nguyen, Nhan; Trinh, Khanh; Reynolds, Kevin; Kless, James; Aftosmis, Michael; Urnes, James, Sr.; Ippolito, Corey

    2013-01-01

    This paper presents the findings of a study conducted tn 2010 by the NASA Innovation Fund Award project entitled "Elastically Shaped Future Air Vehicle Concept". The study presents three themes in support of meeting national and global aviation challenges of reducing fuel burn for present and future aviation systems. The first theme addresses the drag reduction goal through innovative vehicle configurations via non-planar wing optimization. Two wing candidate concepts have been identified from the wing optimization: a drooped wing shape and an inflected wing shape. The drooped wing shape is a truly biologically inspired wing concept that mimics a seagull wing and could achieve about 5% to 6% drag reduction, which is aerodynamically significant. From a practical perspective, this concept would require new radical changes to the current aircraft development capabilities for new vehicles with futuristic-looking wings such as this concept. The inflected wing concepts could achieve between 3% to 4% drag reduction. While the drag reduction benefit may be less, the inflected-wing concept could have a near-term impact since this concept could be developed within the current aircraft development capabilities. The second theme addresses the drag reduction goal through a new concept of elastic wing shaping control. By aeroelastically tailoring the wing shape with active control to maintain optimal aerodynamics, a significant drag reduction benefit could be realized. A significant reduction in fuel burn for long-range cruise from elastic wing shaping control could be realized. To realize the potential of the elastic wing shaping control concept, the third theme emerges that addresses the drag reduction goal through a new aerodynamic control effector called a variable camber continuous trailing edge flap. Conventional aerodynamic control surfaces are discrete independent surfaces that cause geometric discontinuities at the trailing edge region. These discontinuities promote

  9. Flight Investigation at High Mach Numbers of Several Methods of Measuring Static Pressure on an Airplane Wing

    Science.gov (United States)

    1944-11-01

    SS SUBJECT HEADIN6S: Pressure distribution - Flow research - Methods (40950) Wings (74500); DMiion, Intolilfjonco Air Kkrtcricl Command AIQ TECHNICAL INDGK Wrl0ht- Patto *son Air Forco ( Dayton, Ohio ///¥

  10. Development of Experimental Icing Simulation Capability for Full-Scale Swept Wings: Hybrid Design Process, Years 1 and 2

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fujiwara, Gustavo; Bragg, Mike; Triphahn, Chris; Wiberg, Brock; Woodard, Brian; Loth, Eric; Malone, Adam; Paul, Bernard; Pitera, David; Wilcox, Pete; hide

    2017-01-01

    This report presents the key results from the first two years of a program to develop experimental icing simulation capabilities for full-scale swept wings. This investigation was undertaken as a part of a larger collaborative research effort on ice accretion and aerodynamics for large-scale swept wings. Ice accretion and the resulting aerodynamic effect on large-scale swept wings presents a significant airplane design and certification challenge to air frame manufacturers, certification authorities, and research organizations alike. While the effect of ice accretion on straight wings has been studied in detail for many years, the available data on swept-wing icing are much more limited, especially for larger scales.

  11. Numerical and experimental investigations on unsteady aerodynamics of flapping wings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, Meilin

    suggestions to the design of micro-air-vehicles (MAVs), 3D simulations of the flapping wings are carried out in this work. Both the rectangular and bio-inspired wings with different kinematics are investigated. The formation process of two-jet-like wake patterns behind the finite-span flapping wing is found to be closely related to the interaction between trailing edge vortices and tip vortices. Then the effects of the wing planforms on the aerodynamics performance of the finite-span flapping wings are elucidated in terms of the evolution and dynamic interaction of unsteady vortex structures.

  12. Effect of outer wing separation on lift and thrust generation in a flapping wing system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mahardika, Nanang; Viet, Nguyen Quoc; Park, Hoon Cheol

    2011-01-01

    We explore the implementation of wing feather separation and lead-lagging motion to a flapping wing. A biomimetic flapping wing system with separated outer wings is designed and demonstrated. The artificial wing feather separation is implemented in the biomimetic wing by dividing the wing into inner and outer wings. The features of flapping, lead-lagging, and outer wing separation of the flapping wing system are captured by a high-speed camera for evaluation. The performance of the flapping wing system with separated outer wings is compared to that of a flapping wing system with closed outer wings in terms of forward force and downward force production. For a low flapping frequency ranging from 2.47 to 3.90 Hz, the proposed biomimetic flapping wing system shows a higher thrust and lift generation capability as demonstrated by a series of experiments. For 1.6 V application (lower frequency operation), the flapping wing system with separated wings could generate about 56% higher forward force and about 61% less downward force compared to that with closed wings, which is enough to demonstrate larger thrust and lift production capability of the separated outer wings. The experiments show that the outer parts of the separated wings are able to deform, resulting in a smaller amount of drag production during the upstroke, while still producing relatively greater lift and thrust during the downstroke.

  13. Control of Flow Structure on Non-Slender Delta Wing: Bio-inspired Edge Modifications, Passive Bleeding, and Pulsed Blowing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yavuz, Mehmet Metin; Celik, Alper; Cetin, Cenk

    2016-11-01

    In the present study, different flow control approaches including bio-inspired edge modifications, passive bleeding, and pulsed blowing are introduced and applied for the flow over non-slender delta wing. Experiments are conducted in a low speed wind tunnel for a 45 degree swept delta wing using qualitative and quantitative measurement techniques including laser illuminated smoke visualization, particle image velocimety (PIV), and surface pressure measurements. For the bio-inspired edge modifications, the edges of the wing are modified to dolphin fluke geometry. In addition, the concept of flexion ratio, a ratio depending on the flexible length of animal propulsors such as wings, is introduced. For passive bleeding, directing the free stream air from the pressure side of the planform to the suction side of the wing is applied. For pulsed blowing, periodic air injection through the leading edge of the wing is performed in a square waveform with 25% duty cycle at different excitation frequencies and compared with the steady and no blowing cases. The results indicate that each control approach is quite effective in terms of altering the overall flow structure on the planform. However, the success level, considering the elimination of stall or delaying the vortex breakdown, depends on the parameters in each method.

  14. Hovering hummingbird wing aerodynamics during the annual cycle. I. Complete wing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Achache, Yonathan; Sapir, Nir; Elimelech, Yossef

    2017-08-01

    The diverse hummingbird family (Trochilidae) has unique adaptations for nectarivory, among which is the ability to sustain hover-feeding. As hummingbirds mainly feed while hovering, it is crucial to maintain this ability throughout the annual cycle-especially during flight-feather moult, in which wing area is reduced. To quantify the aerodynamic characteristics and flow mechanisms of a hummingbird wing throughout the annual cycle, time-accurate aerodynamic loads and flow field measurements were correlated over a dynamically scaled wing model of Anna's hummingbird ( Calypte anna ). We present measurements recorded over a model of a complete wing to evaluate the baseline aerodynamic characteristics and flow mechanisms. We found that the vorticity concentration that had developed from the wing's leading-edge differs from the attached vorticity structure that was typically found over insects' wings; firstly, it is more elongated along the wing chord, and secondly, it encounters high levels of fluctuations rather than a steady vortex. Lift characteristics resemble those of insects; however, a 20% increase in the lift-to-torque ratio was obtained for the hummingbird wing model. Time-accurate aerodynamic loads were also used to evaluate the time-evolution of the specific power required from the flight muscles, and the overall wingbeat power requirements nicely matched previous studies.

  15. Comparative Analysis of Uninhibited and Constrained Avian Wing Aerodynamics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cox, Jordan A.

    The flight of birds has intrigued and motivated man for many years. Bird flight served as the primary inspiration of flying machines developed by Leonardo Da Vinci, Otto Lilienthal, and even the Wright brothers. Avian flight has once again drawn the attention of the scientific community as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) are not only becoming more popular, but smaller. Birds are once again influencing the designs of aircraft. Small UAVs operating within flight conditions and low Reynolds numbers common to birds are not yet capable of the high levels of control and agility that birds display with ease. Many researchers believe the potential to improve small UAV performance can be obtained by applying features common to birds such as feathers and flapping flight to small UAVs. Although the effects of feathers on a wing have received some attention, the effects of localized transient feather motion and surface geometry on the flight performance of a wing have been largely overlooked. In this research, the effects of freely moving feathers on a preserved red tailed hawk wing were studied. A series of experiments were conducted to measure the aerodynamic forces on a hawk wing with varying levels of feather movement permitted. Angle of attack and air speed were varied within the natural flight envelope of the hawk. Subsequent identical tests were performed with the feather motion constrained through the use of externally-applied surface treatments. Additional tests involved the study of an absolutely fixed geometry mold-and-cast wing model of the original bird wing. Final tests were also performed after applying surface coatings to the cast wing. High speed videos taken during tests revealed the extent of the feather movement between wing models. Images of the microscopic surface structure of each wing model were analyzed to establish variations in surface geometry between models. Recorded aerodynamic forces were then compared to the known feather motion and surface

  16. Humidification and perceived indoor air quality in the office environment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reinikainen, L M; Aunela-Tapola, L; Jaakkola, J J

    1997-01-01

    OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of humidification on the odour, acceptability, and stuffiness of indoor air. METHODS: In a six period cross over trial at the Pasila Office Center, Helsinki, the air of two wings of the building in turn were ventilated with air of 30%-40% humidity. A third wing served as a non-humidified control area. The quality of indoor air was assessed weekly by a panel containing 18 to 23 members. The intraindividual differences in the ratings for odour, stuffiness, and acceptability between humidified and non-humidified wings were used to assess the effect of humidification. The roles of sex, current smoking, and age as potential effect modifiers were assessed by comparing the mean intraindividual differences in ratings between the groups. RESULTS: Humidified air was found to be more odorous and stuffy (paired t test P = 0.0001) and less acceptable than the non-humidified air (McNemar's test P humidification decreases the perceived air quality. This effect is strongest in women and young subjects. PMID:9196454

  17. Novel four-wing and eight-wing attractors using coupled chaotic Lorenz systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Grassi, Giuseppe

    2008-01-01

    This paper presents the problem of generating four-wing (eight-wing) chaotic attractors. The adopted method consists in suitably coupling two (three) identical Lorenz systems. In analogy with the original Lorenz system, where the two wings of the butterfly attractor are located around the two equilibria with the unstable pair of complex-conjugate eigenvalues, this paper shows that the four wings (eight wings) of these novel attractors are located around the four (eight) equilibria with two (three) pairs of unstable complex-conjugate eigenvalues. (general)

  18. DAST in Flight just after Structural Failure of Right Wing

    Science.gov (United States)

    1980-01-01

    conducting in-flight experiments from a remote ground site. DAST explored the technology required to build wing structures with less than normal stiffness. This was done because stiffness requires structural weight but ensures freedom from flutter-an uncontrolled, divergent oscillation of the structure, driven by aerodynamic forces and resulting in structural failure. The program used refined theoretical tools to predict at what speed flutter would occur. It then designed a high-response control system to counteract the motion and permit a much lighter wing structure. The wing had, in effect, 'electronic stiffness.' Flight research with this concept was extremely hazardous because an error in either the flutter prediction or control system implementation would result in wing structural failure and the loss of the vehicle. Because of this, flight demonstration of a sub-scale vehicle made sense from the standpoint of both safety and cost. The program anticipated structural failure during the course of the flight research. The Firebee II was a supersonic drone selected as the DAST testbed because its wing could be easily replaced, it used only tail-mounted control surfaces, and it was available as surplus from the U. S. Air Force. It was capable of 5-g turns (that is, turns producing acceleration equal to 5 times that of gravity). Langley outfitted a drone with an aeroelastic, supercritical research wing suitable for a Mach 0.98 cruise transport with a predicted flutter speed of Mach 0.95 at an altitude of 25,000 feet. Dryden and Langley, in conjunction with Boeing, designed and fabricated a digital flutter suppression system (FSS). Dryden developed an RPRV (remotely piloted research vehicle) flight control system; integrated the wing, FSS, and vehicle systems; and conducted the flight program. In addition to a digital flight control system and aeroelastic wings, each DAST drone had research equipment mounted in its nose and a mid-air retrieval system in its tail. The drones

  19. Preliminary Design of KAIST Micro Modular Reactor with Dry Air Cooling

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Baik, Seung Joon; Bae, Seong Jun; Kim, Seong Gu; Lee, Jeong Ik [Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

    2014-05-15

    KAIST research team recently proposed a Micro Modular Reactor (MMR) concept which integrates power conversion unit (PCU) with the reactor core in a single module. Using supercritical CO{sub 2} as a working fluid of cycle can achieve physically compact size due to small turbomachinery and heat exchangers. The objective of this project is to develop a concept that can operate at isolated area. The design focuses especially on the operation in the inland area where cooling water is insufficient. Thus, in this paper the potential for dry air cooling of the proposed reactor will be examined by sizing the cooling system with preliminary approach. The KAIST MMR is a recently proposed concept of futuristic SMR. The MMR size is being determined to be transportable with land transportation. Special attention is given to the MMR design on the dry cooling, which the cooling system does not depend on water. With appropriately designed air cooling heat exchanger, the MMR can operate autonomously. Two types of air cooling methods are suggested. One is using fan and the other is utilizing cooling tower for the air flow. With fan type air cooling method it consumes about 0.6% of generated electricity from the nuclear reactor. Cooling tower occupies an area of 227 m{sup 2} and 59.6 m in height. This design is just a preliminary estimation of the dry cooling method, and therefore more detailed and optimal design will be followed in the next phase.

  20. Real-time approaches to the estimation of local wind velocity for a fixed-wing unmanned air vehicle

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chan, W L; Lee, C S; Hsiao, F B

    2011-01-01

    Three real-time approaches to estimating local wind velocity for a fixed-wing unmanned air vehicle are presented in this study. All three methods work around the navigation equations with added wind components. The first approach calculates the local wind speed by substituting the ground speed and ascent rate data given by the Global Positioning System (GPS) into the navigation equations. The second and third approaches utilize the extended Kalman filter (EKF) and the unscented Kalman filter (UKF), respectively. The results show that, despite the nonlinearity of the navigation equations, the EKF performance is proven to be on a par with the UKF. A time-varying noise estimation method based on the Wiener filter is also discussed. Results are compared with the average wind speed measured on the ground. All three approaches are proven to be reliable with stated advantages and disadvantages

  1. Temperature and saturation dependence in the vapor sensing of butterfly wing scales

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kertész, K., E-mail: kertesz.krisztian@ttk.mta.hu [Institute of Technical Physics and Materials Science, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, 1525 Budapest, PO Box 49 (Hungary); Piszter, G. [Institute of Technical Physics and Materials Science, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, 1525 Budapest, PO Box 49 (Hungary); Jakab, E. [Institute of Materials and Environmental Chemistry, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, H-1525 Budapest, P O Box 17 (Hungary); Bálint, Zs. [Hungarian Natural History Museum, H-1088, Budapest, Baross utca 13 (Hungary); Vértesy, Z.; Biró, L.P. [Institute of Technical Physics and Materials Science, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, 1525 Budapest, PO Box 49 (Hungary)

    2014-06-01

    The sensing of gasses/vapors in the ambient air is the focus of attention due to the need to monitor our everyday environment. Photonic crystals are sensing materials of the future because of their strong light-manipulating properties. Natural photonic structures are well-suited materials for testing detection principles because they are significantly cheaper than artificial photonic structures and are available in larger sizes. Additionally, natural photonic structures may provide new ideas for developing novel artificial photonic nanoarchitectures with improved properties. In the present paper, we discuss the effects arising from the sensor temperature and the vapor concentration in air during measurements with a photonic crystal-type optical gas sensor. Our results shed light on the sources of discrepancy between simulated and experimental sensing behaviors of photonic crystal-type structures. Through capillary condensation, the vapors will condensate to a liquid state inside the nanocavities. Due to the temperature and radius of curvature dependence of capillary condensation, the measured signals are affected by the sensor temperature as well as by the presence of a nanocavity size distribution. The sensing materials used are natural photonic nanoarchitectures present in the wing scales of blue butterflies. - Highlights: • We report optical gas sensing on blue butterfly wing scale nanostructures. • The sample temperature decrease effects a reversible break-down in the measured spectra. • The break-down is connected with the vapor condensation in the scales and wing surface. • Capillary condensation occurs in the wing scales.

  2. Temperature and saturation dependence in the vapor sensing of butterfly wing scales

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kertész, K.; Piszter, G.; Jakab, E.; Bálint, Zs.; Vértesy, Z.; Biró, L.P.

    2014-01-01

    The sensing of gasses/vapors in the ambient air is the focus of attention due to the need to monitor our everyday environment. Photonic crystals are sensing materials of the future because of their strong light-manipulating properties. Natural photonic structures are well-suited materials for testing detection principles because they are significantly cheaper than artificial photonic structures and are available in larger sizes. Additionally, natural photonic structures may provide new ideas for developing novel artificial photonic nanoarchitectures with improved properties. In the present paper, we discuss the effects arising from the sensor temperature and the vapor concentration in air during measurements with a photonic crystal-type optical gas sensor. Our results shed light on the sources of discrepancy between simulated and experimental sensing behaviors of photonic crystal-type structures. Through capillary condensation, the vapors will condensate to a liquid state inside the nanocavities. Due to the temperature and radius of curvature dependence of capillary condensation, the measured signals are affected by the sensor temperature as well as by the presence of a nanocavity size distribution. The sensing materials used are natural photonic nanoarchitectures present in the wing scales of blue butterflies. - Highlights: • We report optical gas sensing on blue butterfly wing scale nanostructures. • The sample temperature decrease effects a reversible break-down in the measured spectra. • The break-down is connected with the vapor condensation in the scales and wing surface. • Capillary condensation occurs in the wing scales

  3. Aeroelastic Modelling and Design of Aeroelastically Tailored and Morphing Wings

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Werter, N.P.M.

    2017-01-01

    In order to accommodate the growth in air traffic whilst reducing the impact on the environment, operational efficiency is becoming more and more important in the design of the aircraft of the future. A possible approach to increase the operational efficiency of aircraft wings is the use of

  4. Vibration receptive sensilla on the wing margins of the silkworm moth Bombyx mori.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ai, Hiroyuki; Yoshida, Akihiro; Yokohari, Fumio

    2010-03-01

    Bristles along the wing margins (wm-bristles) of the silkworm moth, Bombyx mori, were studied morphologically and electrophysiologically. The male moth has ca. 50 wm-bristles on each forewing and hindwing. Scanning electron microscopy revealed that these wm-bristles are typical mechanosensilla. Leuco-methylene blue staining demonstrated that each wm-bristle has a single receptor neuron, which is also characteristic of the mechanosensillum. The receptor neuron responded to vibrating air currents but did not respond to a constant air current. The wm-bristles showed clear directional sensitivity to vibrating air currents. The wm-bristles were classified into two types, type I and type II, by their response patterns to sinusoidal movements of the bristle. The neuron in type I discharged bursting spikes immediately following stimulation onset and also discharged a single spike for each sinusoidal cycle for frequencies less than ca. 60 Hz. The neuron in type II only responded to vibrations over 40 Hz and, specifically at 75 Hz, discharged a single spike for each sinusoidal cycle throughout the stimulation period. These results suggest that the two types of wm-bristles are highly tuned in different ways to detect vibrations due to the wing beat. The roles of the wm-bristles in the wing beat are discussed. Copyright (c) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. DYNAMIC TUNING OF INSECT AND BIRD WINGS AND COPEPOD AND DAPHNIA APPENDAGES

    Science.gov (United States)

    Compressible flow theory suggests, and dimensional analysis and growing empirical evidence confirm that, to aid flight, many insects and even some birds, notably hummingbirds, tune their wing-beat frequency to a corresponding characteristic harmonic frequency of air. The same pro...

  6. Active AirCore Sampling: Constraining Point Sources of Methane and Other Gases with Fixed Wing Unmanned Aerial Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bent, J. D.; Sweeney, C.; Tans, P. P.; Newberger, T.; Higgs, J. A.; Wolter, S.

    2017-12-01

    Accurate estimates of point source gas emissions are essential for reconciling top-down and bottom-up greenhouse gas measurements, but sampling such sources is challenging. Remote sensing methods are limited by resolution and cloud cover; aircraft methods are limited by air traffic control clearances, and the need to properly determine boundary layer height. A new sampling approach leverages the ability of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) to measure all the way to the surface near the source of emissions, improving sample resolution, and reducing the need to characterize a wide downstream swath, or measure to the full height of the planetary boundary layer (PBL). The "Active-AirCore" sampler, currently under development, will fly on a fixed wing UAS in Class G airspace, spiraling from the surface to 1200 ft AGL around point sources such as leaking oil wells to measure methane, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide. The sampler collects a 100-meter long sample "core" of air in an 1/8" passivated stainless steel tube. This "core" is run on a high-precision instrument shortly after the UAS is recovered. Sample values are mapped to a specific geographic location by cross-referencing GPS and flow/pressure metadata, and fluxes are quantified by applying Gauss's theorem to the data, mapped onto the spatial "cylinder" circumscribed by the UAS. The AirCore-Active builds off the sampling ability and analytical approach of the related AirCore sampler, which profiles the atmosphere passively using a balloon launch platform, but will add an active pumping capability needed for near-surface horizontal sampling applications. Here, we show design elements, laboratory and field test results for methane, describe the overall goals of the mission, and discuss how the platform can be adapted, with minimal effort, to measure other gas species.

  7. Development of Variable Camber Continuous Trailing Edge Flap for Performance Adaptive Aeroelastic Wing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nguyen, Nhan; Kaul, Upender; Lebofsky, Sonia; Ting, Eric; Chaparro, Daniel; Urnes, James

    2015-01-01

    This paper summarizes the recent development of an adaptive aeroelastic wing shaping control technology called variable camber continuous trailing edge flap (VCCTEF). As wing flexibility increases, aeroelastic interactions with aerodynamic forces and moments become an increasingly important consideration in aircraft design and aerodynamic performance. Furthermore, aeroelastic interactions with flight dynamics can result in issues with vehicle stability and control. The initial VCCTEF concept was developed in 2010 by NASA under a NASA Innovation Fund study entitled "Elastically Shaped Future Air Vehicle Concept," which showed that highly flexible wing aerodynamic surfaces can be elastically shaped in-flight by active control of wing twist and bending deflection in order to optimize the spanwise lift distribution for drag reduction. A collaboration between NASA and Boeing Research & Technology was subsequently funded by NASA from 2012 to 2014 to further develop the VCCTEF concept. This paper summarizes some of the key research areas conducted by NASA during the collaboration with Boeing Research and Technology. These research areas include VCCTEF design concepts, aerodynamic analysis of VCCTEF camber shapes, aerodynamic optimization of lift distribution for drag minimization, wind tunnel test results for cruise and high-lift configurations, flutter analysis and suppression control of flexible wing aircraft, and multi-objective flight control for adaptive aeroelastic wing shaping control.

  8. High Performance Piezoelectric Actuators and Wings for Nano Air Vehicles

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-08-26

    by introducing viscous dampers , cψA and cψB , applied at the hinges A and B, respectively. Choose as generalized coordinates q = [ ψA φ ψB ]T , where...aerodynamic and inertial forces cause passive wing rotation [11]. Many compu- tational fluid dynamic studies have been conducted regarding the complex fluid ...aerofoils. The lossed in the hinges are modeled as a single damper , cφ applied at the hinge at O. To properly model the unsteady aerodynamics and the

  9. Preliminary wing model tests in the variable density wind tunnel of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Munk, Max M

    1926-01-01

    This report contains the results of a series of tests with three wing models. By changing the section of one of the models and painting the surface of another, the number of models tested was increased to five. The tests were made in order to obtain some general information on the air forces on wing sections at a high Reynolds number and in particular to make sure that the Reynolds number is really the important factor, and not other things like the roughness of the surface and the sharpness of the trailing edge. The few tests described in this report seem to indicate that the air forces at a high Reynolds number are not equivalent to respective air forces at a low Reynolds number (as in an ordinary atmospheric wind tunnel). The drag appears smaller at a high Reynolds number and the maximum lift is increased in some cases. The roughness of the surface and the sharpness of the trailing edge do not materially change the results, so that we feel confident that tests with systematic series of different wing sections will bring consistent results, important and highly useful to the designer.

  10. Aerodynamic comparison of a butterfly-like flapping wing-body model and a revolving-wing model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suzuki, Kosuke; Yoshino, Masato

    2017-06-01

    The aerodynamic performance of flapping- and revolving-wing models is investigated by numerical simulations based on an immersed boundary-lattice Boltzmann method. As wing models, we use (i) a butterfly-like model with a body and flapping-rectangular wings and (ii) a revolving-wing model with the same wings as the flapping case. Firstly, we calculate aerodynamic performance factors such as the lift force, the power, and the power loading of the two models for Reynolds numbers in the range of 50-1000. For the flapping-wing model, the power loading is maximal for the maximum angle of attack of 90°, a flapping amplitude of roughly 45°, and a phase shift between the flapping angle and the angle of attack of roughly 90°. For the revolving-wing model, the power loading peaks for an angle of attack of roughly 45°. In addition, we examine the ground effect on the aerodynamic performance of the revolving-wing model. Secondly, we compare the aerodynamic performance of the flapping- and revolving-wing models at their respective maximal power loadings. It is found that the revolving-wing model is more efficient than the flapping-wing model both when the body of the latter is fixed and where it can move freely. Finally, we discuss the relative agilities of the flapping- and revolving-wing models.

  11. An analytical model and scaling of chordwise flexible flapping wings in forward flight.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kodali, Deepa; Kang, Chang-Kwon

    2016-12-13

    Aerodynamic performance of biological flight characterized by the fluid structure interaction of a flapping wing and the surrounding fluid is affected by the wing flexibility. One of the main challenges to predict aerodynamic forces is that the wing shape and motion are a priori unknown. In this study, we derive an analytical fluid-structure interaction model for a chordwise flexible flapping two-dimensional airfoil in forward flight. A plunge motion is imposed on the rigid leading-edge (LE) of teardrop shape and the flexible tail dynamically deforms. The resulting unsteady aeroelasticity is modeled with the Euler-Bernoulli-Theodorsen equation under a small deformation assumption. The two-way coupling is realized by considering the trailing-edge deformation relative to the LE as passive pitch, affecting the unsteady aerodynamics. The resulting wing deformation and the aerodynamic performance including lift and thrust agree well with high-fidelity numerical results. Under the dynamic balance, the aeroelastic stiffness decreases, whereas the aeroelastic stiffness increases with the reduced frequency. A novel aeroelastic frequency ratio is derived, which scales with the wing deformation, lift, and thrust. Finally, the dynamic similarity between flapping in water and air is established.

  12. Analysis Of Aerial Photography With Drone Type Fixed Wing In Kotabaru, Lampung

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Indreswari Suroso

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available In the world of photography is very closely related to the unmanned aerial vehicle called drones. Drones mounted camera so that the plane is pilot controlled from the mainland. Photography results were seen by the pilot after the drone aircraft landed. Drones are unmanned drones that are controlled remotely. Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV, is a flying machine that operates with remote control by the pilot. Methode for this research are preparation assembly of drone, planning altitude flying, testing on ground, camera of calibration, air capture, result of aerial photos and analysis of result aerial photos. There are two types of drones, multicopter and fixed wing. Fixed wing  has an airplane like shape with a wing system. Fixed wing use bettery 4000 mAh . Fixed wing drone in this research used   mapping in  This drone has a load ability of 1 kg and operational time is used approximately 30 minutes for an areas 20 to 50 hectares with a height of 100 m  to 200 m and payload 1 kg  above ground level. The aerial photographs in Kotabaru produce excellent aerial photographs that can help mapping the local government in the Kotabaru region.

  13. Study of squeeze film damping in a micro-beam resonator based on micro-polar theory

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mina Ghanbari

    Full Text Available In this paper, squeeze film damping in a micro-beam resonator based on micro-polar theory has been investigated. The proposed model for this study consists of a clamped-clamped micro-beam bounded between two fixed layers. The gap between the micro-beam and layers is filled with air. As fluid behaves differently in micro scale than macro, the micro-scale fluid field in the gap has been modeled based on micro-polar theory. Equation of motion governing transverse deflection of the micro- beam based on modified couple stress theory and also non-linear Reynolds equation of the fluid field based on micropolar theory have been non-dimensionalized, linearized and solved simultaneously in order to calculate the quality factor of the resonator. The effect of micropolar parameters of air on the quality factor has been investigated. The quality factor of the of the micro-beam resonator for different values of non-dimensionalized length scale of the beam, squeeze number and also non-dimensionalized pressure has been calculated and compared to the obtained values of quality factor based on classical theory.

  14. PSO-Based Algorithm Applied to Quadcopter Micro Air Vehicle Controller Design

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Huu-Khoa Tran

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available Due to the rapid development of science and technology in recent times, many effective controllers are designed and applied successfully to complicated systems. The significant task of controller design is to determine optimized control gains in a short period of time. With this purpose in mind, a combination of the particle swarm optimization (PSO-based algorithm and the evolutionary programming (EP algorithm is introduced in this article. The benefit of this integration algorithm is the creation of new best-parameters for control design schemes. The proposed controller designs are then demonstrated to have the best performance for nonlinear micro air vehicle models.

  15. Hovering hummingbird wing aerodynamics during the annual cycle. II. Implications of wing feather moult

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sapir, Nir; Elimelech, Yossef

    2018-01-01

    Birds usually moult their feathers in a particular sequence which may incur aerodynamic, physiological and behavioural implications. Among birds, hummingbirds are unique species in their sustained hovering flight. Because hummingbirds frequently hover-feed, they must maintain sufficiently high flight capacities even when moulting their flight feathers. A hummingbird wing consists of 10 primary flight feathers whose absence during moult may strongly affect wing performance. Using dynamic similarity rules, we compared time-accurate aerodynamic loads and flow field measurements over several wing geometries that follow the natural feather moult sequence of Calypte anna, a common hummingbird species in western North America. Our results suggest a drop of more than 20% in lift production during the early stages of the moult sequence in which mid-wing flight feathers are moulted. We also found that the wing's ability to generate lift strongly depended on the morphological integrity of the outer primaries and leading-edge. These findings may explain the evolution of wing morphology and moult attributes. Specifically, the high overlap between adjacent wing feathers, especially at the wing tip, and the slow sequential replacement of the wing feathers result in a relatively small reduction in wing surface area during moult with limited aerodynamic implications. We present power and efficiency analyses for hover flight during moult under several plausible scenarios, suggesting that body mass reduction could be a compensatory mechanism that preserves the energetic costs of hover flight. PMID:29515884

  16. Inertia may limit efficiency of slow flapping flight, but mayflies show a strategy for reducing the power requirements of loiter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Usherwood, James R

    2009-01-01

    Predictions from aerodynamic theory often match biological observations very poorly. Many insects and several bird species habitually hover, frequently flying at low advance ratios. Taking helicopter-based aerodynamic theory, wings functioning predominantly for hovering, even for quite small insects, should operate at low angles of attack. However, insect wings operate at very high angles of attack during hovering; reduction in angle of attack should result in considerable energetic savings. Here, I consider the possibility that selection of kinematics is constrained from being aerodynamically optimal due to the inertial power requirements of flapping. Potential increases in aerodynamic efficiency with lower angles of attack during hovering may be outweighed by increases in inertial power due to the associated increases in flapping frequency. For simple hovering, traditional rotary-winged helicopter-like micro air vehicles would be more efficient than their flapping biomimetic counterparts. However, flapping may confer advantages in terms of top speed and manoeuvrability. If flapping-winged micro air vehicles are required to hover or loiter more efficiently, dragonflies and mayflies suggest biomimetic solutions

  17. Aeroelastic Wing Shaping Using Distributed Propulsion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nguyen, Nhan T. (Inventor); Reynolds, Kevin Wayne (Inventor); Ting, Eric B. (Inventor)

    2017-01-01

    An aircraft has wings configured to twist during flight. Inboard and outboard propulsion devices, such as turbofans or other propulsors, are connected to each wing, and are spaced along the wing span. A flight controller independently controls thrust of the inboard and outboard propulsion devices to significantly change flight dynamics, including changing thrust of outboard propulsion devices to twist the wing, and to differentially apply thrust on each wing to change yaw and other aspects of the aircraft during various stages of a flight mission. One or more generators can be positioned upon the wing to provide power for propulsion devices on the same wing, and on an opposite wing.

  18. Do the Golden-winged Warbler and Blue-winged Warbler Exhibit Species-specific Differences in their Breeding Habitat Use?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Laura L. Patton

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available We compared habitat features of Golden-winged Warbler (Vermivora chrysoptera territories in the presence and absence of the Blue-winged Warbler (V. cyanoptera on reclaimed coal mines in southeastern Kentucky, USA. Our objective was to determine whether there are species specific differences in habitat that can be manipulated to encourage population persistence of the Golden-winged Warbler. When compared with Blue-winged Warblers, Golden-winged Warblers established territories at higher elevations and with greater percentages of grass and canopy cover. Mean territory size (minimum convex polygon was 1.3 ha (se = 0.1 for Golden-winged Warbler in absence of Blue-winged Warbler, 1.7 ha (se = 0.3 for Golden-winged Warbler coexisting with Blue-winged Warbler, and 2.1 ha (se = 0.3 for Blue-winged Warbler. Territory overlap occurred within and between species (18 of n = 73 territories, 24.7%. All Golden-winged and Blue-winged Warblers established territories that included an edge between reclaimed mine land and mature forest, as opposed to establishing territories in open grassland/shrubland habitat. The mean distance territories extended from a forest edge was 28.0 m (se = 3.8 for Golden-winged Warbler in absence of Blue-winged Warbler, 44.7 m (se = 5.7 for Golden-winged Warbler coexisting with Blue-winged Warbler, and 33.1 m (se = 6.1 for Blue-winged Warbler. Neither territory size nor distances to forest edges differed significantly between Golden-winged Warbler in presence or absence of Blue-winged Warbler. According to Monte Carlo analyses, orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata, green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica seedlings and saplings, and black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia saplings were indicative of sites with only Golden-winged Warblers. Sericea lespedeza, goldenrod (Solidago spp., clematis vine (Clematis spp., and blackberry (Rubus spp. were indicative of sites where both species occurred. Our findings complement recent genetic studies and add

  19. Experimental and numerical analysis of the wing rock characteristics of a 'wing-body-tail' configuration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suarez, Carlos J.; Smith, Brooke C.; Malcolm, Gerald N.

    1993-01-01

    Free-to-roll wind tunnel tests were conducted and a computer simulation exercise was performed in an effort to investigate in detail the mechanism of wing rock on a configuration that consisted of a highly-slender forebody and a 78 deg swept delta wing. In the wind tunnel test, the roll angle and wing surface pressures were measured during the wing rock motion. A limit cycle oscillation was observed for angles of attack between 22 deg and 30 deg. In general, the wind tunnel test confirmed that the main flow phenomena responsible for the wing-body-tail wing rock are the interactions between the forebody and the wing vortices. The variation of roll acceleration (determined from the second derivative of the roll angle time history) with roll angle clearly showed the energy balance necessary to sustain the limit cycle oscillation. Pressure measurements on the wing revealed the hysteresis of the wing rock process. First, second and nth order models for the aerodynamic damping were developed and examined with a one degree of freedom computer simulation. Very good agreement with the observed behavior from the wind tunnel was obtained.

  20. The analysis of the flying wing in morphing concept

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ionică CÎRCIU

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available The combination between the flying wing morphing concept and the use of modern command and control system offers exponential advantages having a leverage effect in the economy and research. The flying wing architecture has the advantage of low cost against efficiency, the morphing of this concept defining the new characteristic frontiers and aerodynamic performances which derive immediately. On designing an unmanned aerial vehicle for a various range of missions, its lifting surface needs to display optimal geometrical features, so that the UAV may maintain the induced drag and the moment coefficient at reasonable levels. The command and control of the lifting surfaces in morphing concept offer characteristics and in-flight performances at a superior level. The limits of the system depend on the reliability of the execution elements and the grade of accuracy for the control laws which are implemented in the calculation module. The paper aims at presenting an analysis regarding the robotic air systems of flying wing type through the aerodynamic analysis and with the help of specific software instruments. The performances and flight qualities depend directly on the geometry of the lifting surface of the aerial vehicle.

  1. Generation of Fullspan Leading-Edge 3D Ice Shapes for Swept-Wing Aerodynamic Testing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Camello, Stephanie C.; Lee, Sam; Lum, Christopher; Bragg, Michael B.

    2016-01-01

    The deleterious effect of ice accretion on aircraft is often assessed through dry-air flight and wind tunnel testing with artificial ice shapes. This paper describes a method to create fullspan swept-wing artificial ice shapes from partial span ice segments acquired in the NASA Glenn Icing Reserch Tunnel for aerodynamic wind-tunnel testing. Full-scale ice accretion segments were laser scanned from the Inboard, Midspan, and Outboard wing station models of the 65% scale Common Research Model (CRM65) aircraft configuration. These were interpolated and extrapolated using a weighted averaging method to generate fullspan ice shapes from the root to the tip of the CRM65 wing. The results showed that this interpolation method was able to preserve many of the highly three dimensional features typically found on swept-wing ice accretions. The interpolated fullspan ice shapes were then scaled to fit the leading edge of a 8.9% scale version of the CRM65 wing for aerodynamic wind-tunnel testing. Reduced fidelity versions of the fullspan ice shapes were also created where most of the local three-dimensional features were removed. The fullspan artificial ice shapes and the reduced fidelity versions were manufactured using stereolithography.

  2. Variable Camber Continuous Aerodynamic Control Surfaces and Methods for Active Wing Shaping Control

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nguyen, Nhan T. (Inventor)

    2016-01-01

    An aerodynamic control apparatus for an air vehicle improves various aerodynamic performance metrics by employing multiple spanwise flap segments that jointly form a continuous or a piecewise continuous trailing edge to minimize drag induced by lift or vortices. At least one of the multiple spanwise flap segments includes a variable camber flap subsystem having multiple chordwise flap segments that may be independently actuated. Some embodiments also employ a continuous leading edge slat system that includes multiple spanwise slat segments, each of which has one or more chordwise slat segment. A method and an apparatus for implementing active control of a wing shape are also described and include the determination of desired lift distribution to determine the improved aerodynamic deflection of the wings. Flap deflections are determined and control signals are generated to actively control the wing shape to approximate the desired deflection.

  3. Flexible wings in flapping flight

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moret, Lionel; Thiria, Benjamin; Zhang, Jun

    2007-11-01

    We study the effect of passive pitching and flexible deflection of wings on the forward flapping flight. The wings are flapped vertically in water and are allowed to move freely horizontally. The forward speed is chosen by the flapping wing itself by balance of drag and thrust. We show, that by allowing the wing to passively pitch or by adding a flexible extension at its trailing edge, the forward speed is significantly increased. Detailed measurements of wing deflection and passive pitching, together with flow visualization, are used to explain our observations. The advantage of having a wing with finite rigidity/flexibility is discussed as we compare the current results with our biological inspirations such as birds and fish.

  4. Wing Torsional Stiffness Tests of the Active Aeroelastic Wing F/A-18 Airplane

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lokos, William A.; Olney, Candida D.; Crawford, Natalie D.; Stauf, Rick; Reichenbach, Eric Y.

    2002-01-01

    The left wing of the Active Aeroelastic Wing (AAW) F/A-18 airplane has been ground-load-tested to quantify its torsional stiffness. The test has been performed at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center in November 1996, and again in April 2001 after a wing skin modification was performed. The primary objectives of these tests were to characterize the wing behavior before the first flight, and provide a before-and-after measurement of the torsional stiffness. Two streamwise load couples have been applied. The wing skin modification is shown to have more torsional flexibility than the original configuration has. Additionally, structural hysteresis is shown to be reduced by the skin modification. Data comparisons show good repeatability between the tests.

  5. Review Results on Wing-Body Interference

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Frolov Vladimir

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The paper presents an overview of results for wing-body interference, obtained by the author for varied wing-body combinations. The lift-curve slopes of the wing-body combinations are considered. In this paper a discrete vortices method (DVM and 2D potential model for cross-flow around fuselage are used. The circular and elliptical cross-sections of the fuselage and flat wings of various forms are considered. Calculations showed that the value of the lift-curve slopes of the wing-body combinations may exceed the same value for an isolated wing. This result confirms an experimental data obtained by other authors earlier. Within a framework of the used mathematical models the investigations to optimize the wing-body combination were carried. The present results of the optimization problem for the wing-body combination allowed to select the optimal geometric characteristics for configuration to maximize the values of the lift-curve slopes of the wing-body combination. It was revealed that maximums of the lift-curve slopes for the optimal mid-wing configuration with elliptical cross-section body had a sufficiently large relative width of the body (more than 30% of the span wing.

  6. Acoustic trapping in bubble-bounded micro-cavities

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Mahoney, P.; McDougall, C.; Glynne-Jones, P.; MacDonald, M. P.

    2016-12-01

    We present a method for controllably producing longitudinal acoustic trapping sites inside microfluidic channels. Air bubbles are injected into a micro-capillary to create bubble-bounded `micro-cavities'. A cavity mode is formed that shows controlled longitudinal acoustic trapping between the two air/water interfaces along with the levitation to the centre of the channel that one would expect from a lower order lateral mode. 7 μm and 10 μm microspheres are trapped at the discrete acoustic trapping sites in these micro-cavities.We show this for several lengths of micro-cavity.

  7. Morphing Wing: Experimental Boundary Layer Transition Determination and Wing Vibrations Measurements and Analysis =

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tondji Chendjou, Yvan Wilfried

    This Master's thesis is written within the framework of the multidisciplinary international research project CRIAQ MDO-505. This global project consists of the design, manufacture and testing of a morphing wing box capable of changing the shape of the flexible upper skin of a wing using an actuator system installed inside the wing. This changing of the shape generates a delay in the occurrence of the laminar to turbulent transition area, which results in an improvement of the aerodynamic performances of the morphed wing. This thesis is focused on the technologies used to gather the pressure data during the wind tunnel tests, as well as on the post processing methodologies used to characterize the wing airflow. The vibration measurements of the wing and their real-time graphical representation are also presented. The vibration data acquisition system is detailed, and the vibration data analysis confirms the predictions of the flutter analysis performed on the wing prior to wind tunnel testing at the IAR-NRC. The pressure data was collected using 32 highly-sensitive piezoelectric sensors for sensing the pressure fluctuations up to 10 KHz. These sensors were installed along two wing chords, and were further connected to a National Instrument PXI real-time acquisition system. The acquired pressure data was high-pass filtered, analyzed and visualized using Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) and Standard Deviation (SD) approaches to quantify the pressure fluctuations in the wing airflow, as these allow the detection of the laminar to turbulent transition area. Around 30% of the cases tested in the IAR-NRC wind tunnel were optimized for drag reduction by the morphing wing procedure. The obtained pressure measurements results were compared with results obtained by infrared thermography visualization, and were used to validate the numerical simulations. Two analog accelerometers able to sense dynamic accelerations up to +/-16g were installed in both the wing and the aileron boxes

  8. Combined particle-image velocimetry and force analysis of the three-dimensional fluid-structure interaction of a natural owl wing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Winzen, A; Roidl, B; Schröder, W

    2016-04-01

    Low-speed aerodynamics has gained increasing interest due to its relevance for the design process of small flying air vehicles. These small aircraft operate at similar aerodynamic conditions as, e.g. birds which therefore can serve as role models of how to overcome the well-known problems of low Reynolds number flight. The flight of the barn owl is characterized by a very low flight velocity in conjunction with a low noise emission and a high level of maneuverability at stable flight conditions. To investigate the complex three-dimensional flow field and the corresponding local structural deformation in combination with their influence on the resulting aerodynamic forces, time-resolved stereoscopic particle-image velocimetry and force and moment measurements are performed on a prepared natural barn owl wing. Several spanwise positions are measured via PIV in a range of angles of attack [Formula: see text] 6° and Reynolds numbers 40 000 [Formula: see text] 120 000 based on the chord length. Additionally, the resulting forces and moments are recorded for -10° ≤ α ≤ 15° at the same Reynolds numbers. Depending on the spanwise position, the angle of attack, and the Reynolds number, the flow field on the wing's pressure side is characterized by either a region of flow separation, causing large-scale vortical structures which lead to a time-dependent deflection of the flexible wing structure or wing regions showing no instantaneous deflection but a reduction of the time-averaged mean wing curvature. Based on the force measurements the three-dimensional fluid-structure interaction is assumed to considerably impact the aerodynamic forces acting on the wing leading to a strong mechanical loading of the interface between the wing and body. These time-depending loads which result from the flexibility of the wing should be taken into consideration for the design of future small flying air vehicles using flexible wing structures.

  9. Radar Micro-Doppler Mini-UAV Classification using Spectrograms and Cepstrograms

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Harmanny, R.I.A.; Wit, J.J.M. de; Prémel-Cabic, G.

    2015-01-01

    The radar micro-Doppler signature of a target is determined by parts of the target moving or rotating in addition to the main body motion. The relative motion of these parts is characteristic for different classes of targets, e.g. the flapping motion of a bird’s wings versus the spinning of

  10. GPS-based microenvironment tracker (MicroTrac) model to estimate time-location of individuals for air pollution exposure assessments: model evaluation in central North Carolina.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Breen, Michael S; Long, Thomas C; Schultz, Bradley D; Crooks, James; Breen, Miyuki; Langstaff, John E; Isaacs, Kristin K; Tan, Yu-Mei; Williams, Ronald W; Cao, Ye; Geller, Andrew M; Devlin, Robert B; Batterman, Stuart A; Buckley, Timothy J

    2014-07-01

    A critical aspect of air pollution exposure assessment is the estimation of the time spent by individuals in various microenvironments (ME). Accounting for the time spent in different ME with different pollutant concentrations can reduce exposure misclassifications, while failure to do so can add uncertainty and bias to risk estimates. In this study, a classification model, called MicroTrac, was developed to estimate time of day and duration spent in eight ME (indoors and outdoors at home, work, school; inside vehicles; other locations) from global positioning system (GPS) data and geocoded building boundaries. Based on a panel study, MicroTrac estimates were compared with 24-h diary data from nine participants, with corresponding GPS data and building boundaries of home, school, and work. MicroTrac correctly classified the ME for 99.5% of the daily time spent by the participants. The capability of MicroTrac could help to reduce the time-location uncertainty in air pollution exposure models and exposure metrics for individuals in health studies.

  11. Mechanisms of Wing Beat Sound in Flapping Wings of Beetles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Allen, John

    2017-11-01

    While the aerodynamic aspects of insect flight have received recent attention, the mechanisms of sound production by flapping wings is not well understood. Though the harmonic structure of wing beat frequency modulation has been reported with respect to biological implications, few studies have rigorously quantified it with respect directionality, phase coupling and vortex tip scattering. Moreover, the acoustic detection and classification of invasive species is both of practical as well scientific interest. In this study, the acoustics of the tethered flight of the Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle (Oryctes rhinoceros) is investigated with four element microphone array in conjunction with complementary optical sensors and high speed video. The different experimental methods for wing beat determination are compared in both the time and frequency domain. Flow visualization is used to examine the vortex and sound generation due to the torsional mode of the wing rotation. Results are compared with related experimental studies of the Oriental Flower Beetle. USDA, State of Hawaii.

  12. Drag Performance of Twist Morphing MAV Wing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ismail N.I.

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Morphing wing is one of latest evolution found on MAV wing. However, due to few design problems such as limited MAV wing size and complicated morphing mechanism, the understanding of its aerodynamic behaviour was not fully explored. In fact, the basic drag distribution induced by a morphing MAV wing is still remained unknown. Thus, present work is carried out to compare the drag performance between a twist morphing wing with membrane and rigid MAV wing design. A quasi-static aeroelastic analysis by using the Ansys-Fluid Structure Interaction (FSI method is utilized in current works to predict the drag performance a twist morphing MAV wing design. Based on the drag pattern study, the results exhibits that the morphing wing has a partial similarities in overall drag pattern with the baseline (membrane and rigid wing. However, based CD analysis, it shows that TM wing induced higher CD magnitude (between 25% to 82% higher than to the baseline wing. In fact, TM wing also induced the largest CD increment (about 20% to 27% among the wings. The visualization on vortex structure revealed that TM wing also produce larger tip vortex structure (compared to baseline wings which presume to promote higher induce drag component and subsequently induce its higher CD performance.

  13. The effect of aspect ratio on the leading-edge vortex over an insect-like flapping wing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Phillips, Nathan; Knowles, Kevin; Bomphrey, Richard J

    2015-10-09

    Insect wing shapes are diverse and a renowned source of inspiration for the new generation of autonomous flapping vehicles, yet the aerodynamic consequences of varying geometry is not well understood. One of the most defining and aerodynamically significant measures of wing shape is the aspect ratio, defined as the ratio of wing length (R) to mean wing chord (c). We investigated the impact of aspect ratio, AR, on the induced flow field around a flapping wing using a robotic device. Rigid rectangular wings ranging from AR = 1.5 to 7.5 were flapped with insect-like kinematics in air with a constant Reynolds number (Re) of 1400, and a dimensionless stroke amplitude of 6.5c (number of chords traversed by the wingtip). Pseudo-volumetric, ensemble-averaged, flow fields around the wings were captured using particle image velocimetry at 11 instances throughout simulated downstrokes. Results confirmed the presence of a high-lift, separated flow field with a leading-edge vortex (LEV), and revealed that the conical, primary LEV grows in size and strength with increasing AR. In each case, the LEV had an arch-shaped axis with its outboard end originating from a focus-sink singularity on the wing surface near the tip. LEV detachment was observed for AR > 1.5 around mid-stroke at ~70% span, and initiated sooner over higher aspect ratio wings. At AR > 3 the larger, stronger vortex persisted under the wing surface well into the next half-stroke leading to a reduction in lift. Circulatory lift attributable to the LEV increased with AR up to AR = 6. Higher aspect ratios generated proportionally less lift distally because of LEV breakdown, and also less lift closer to the wing root due to the previous LEV's continuing presence under the wing. In nature, insect wings go no higher than AR ~ 5, likely in part due to architectural and physiological constraints but also because of the reducing aerodynamic benefits of high AR wings.

  14. Wing-pitch modulation in maneuvering fruit flies is explained by an interplay between aerodynamics and a torsional spring

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beatus, Tsevi; Cohen, Itai

    2015-08-01

    While the wing kinematics of many flapping insects have been well characterized, understanding the underlying sensory, neural, and physiological mechanisms that determine these kinematics is still a challenge. Two main difficulties in understanding the physiological mechanisms arise from the complexity of the interaction between a flapping wing and its own unsteady flow, as well as the intricate mechanics of the insect wing hinge, which is among the most complicated joints in the animal kingdom. These difficulties call for the application of reduced-order approaches. Here this strategy is used to model the torques exerted by the wing hinge along the wing-pitch axis of maneuvering fruit flies as a damped torsional spring with elastic and damping coefficients as well as a rest angle. Furthermore, we model the air flows using simplified quasistatic aerodynamics. Our findings suggest that flies take advantage of the passive coupling between aerodynamics and the damped torsional spring to indirectly control their wing-pitch kinematics by modulating the spring parameters. The damped torsional-spring model explains the changes measured in wing-pitch kinematics during roll correction maneuvers through modulation of the spring damping and elastic coefficients. These results, in conjunction with the previous literature, indicate that flies can accurately control their wing-pitch kinematics on a sub-wing-beat time scale by modulating all three effective spring parameters on longer time scales.

  15. A Fixed-Wing Micro Air Vehicle with Hovering Capability

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-12-01

    here conventional velocities are included which simulate the propeller induced slipstream effect. After applying Bernoulli hypothesis, momentum ...with momentum theory and was used to properly design a 30 cm-span VTOL MAV prototype named mini-Vertigo, which was designed and fabricated in...3.3 Disk actuator model In general, the classical momentum theory is used to calculate the performance of propeller blades following a streamtube

  16. Design and Control of Flapping Wing Micro Air Vehicles

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-09-01

    3.24) 66 The instantaneous moments on the body then result from the cross product B B B cpM r F  , they are...amplitude of 120◦. The OPT 39.5/2.1/0.6 actuator from Omega Piezo has an advertised stroke of ±1.2mm. This was verified in the lab with no load. The...only 0.6 W/g, based on its advertised specifications. The actuators are fabricated in a molding process, as shown in Figure 4.20. The two PZT

  17. A Wind Tunnel Investigation of Joined Wing Scissor Morphing

    Science.gov (United States)

    2006-06-01

    would use the low sweep for carrier landing and subsonic cruise, and use the high sweep for 12 supersonic flight [13]. According to Raymer [19...Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio: Air Force Institute of Technology, 2005. 12. Katz, Joseph, Shaun Byrne, and Robert Hahl. "Stall Resistance Features of...Lifting-Body Airplane Configurations." Journal of Aircraft 2nd ser. 36 (1999): 471-474. 13. Kress, Robert W. "Variable Sweep Wing Design." AIAA 83

  18. Control of wing-tip vortex using winglets at low Reynolds number

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cho, Seunghyun; Choi, Haecheon

    2014-11-01

    Winglets are considered as one of the effective devices for reducing induced drag, and thus many studies have been conducted, but mainly at high Reynolds numbers (Re ~106 ~107) for commercial airplanes. However, small-size unmanned air vehicles (UAV), operating at low Reynolds numbers (Re PIV measurements are conducted at several cross-flow planes for a few different angles of attack (α) . At high angles of attack (7° ~13°) , the winglets with the cant angle of 70° increase the aerodynamic performance, whereas at low angles of attack (2° ~6°) , the wing-tip extension (cant angle of 0°) shows better performances. The velocity fields measured from PIV indicate that, with the winglet, the wing-tip vortex moves away from the wing surface at α =12° , and the downwash motion in the wake behind the trailing edge is decreased, reducing the magnitude of the induced drag. A concept of changing the cant angle during flight is also suggested at this talk. Supported by 2011-0028032.

  19. Implementation of the Rauch-Tung-Striebel smoother for sensor compatibility correction of a fixed-wing unmanned air vehicle.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chan, Woei-Leong; Hsiao, Fei-Bin

    2011-01-01

    This paper presents a complete procedure for sensor compatibility correction of a fixed-wing Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV). The sensors consist of a differential air pressure transducer for airspeed measurement, two airdata vanes installed on an airdata probe for angle of attack (AoA) and angle of sideslip (AoS) measurement, and an Attitude and Heading Reference System (AHRS) that provides attitude angles, angular rates, and acceleration. The procedure is mainly based on a two pass algorithm called the Rauch-Tung-Striebel (RTS) smoother, which consists of a forward pass Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) and a backward recursion smoother. On top of that, this paper proposes the implementation of the Wiener Type Filter prior to the RTS in order to avoid the complicated process noise covariance matrix estimation. Furthermore, an easy to implement airdata measurement noise variance estimation method is introduced. The method estimates the airdata and subsequently the noise variances using the ground speed and ascent rate provided by the Global Positioning System (GPS). It incorporates the idea of data regionality by assuming that some sort of statistical relation exists between nearby data points. Root mean square deviation (RMSD) is being employed to justify the sensor compatibility. The result shows that the presented procedure is easy to implement and it improves the UAV sensor data compatibility significantly.

  20. Aerodynamics and Ecomorphology of Flexible Feathers and Morphing Bird Wings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Klaassen van Oorschot, Brett

    Birds are talented fliers capable of vertical take-off and landing, navigating turbulent air, and flying thousands of miles without rest. How is this possible? What allows birds to exploit the aerial environment with such ease? In part, it may be because bird wings are unlike any engineered wing. They are flexible, strong, lightweight, and dynamically capable of changes in shape on a nearly instantaneous basis (Rayner, 1988; Tobalske, 2007). Moreover, much of this change is passive, modulated only by changes in airflow angle and velocity. Birds actively morph their wings and their feathers morph passively in response to airflow to meet aerodynamic demands. Wings are highly adapted to myriad aeroecological factors and aerodynamic conditions (e.g. Lockwood et al., 1998; Bowlin and Winkler, 2004). This dissertation contains the results of my research on the complexities of morphing avian wings and feathers. I chose to study three related-but-discrete aspects of the avian wing: 1) the aerodynamics of morphing wings during take-off and gliding flight, 2) the presence and significance of wing tip slots across the avian clade, and 3) the aerodynamic role of the emarginate primary feathers that form these wing tip slots. These experiments ask fundamental questions that have intrigued me since childhood: Why do birds have different wing shapes? And why do some birds have slotted wing tips? It's fair to say that you will not find definitive answers here--rather, you will find the methodical, incremental addition of new hypotheses and empirical evidence which will serve future researchers in their own pursuits of these questions. The first chapter explores active wing morphing in two disparate aerodynamic regimes: low-advance ratio flapping (such as during takeoff) and high-advance ratio gliding. This chapter was published in the Journal of Experimental Biology (Klaassen van Oorschot et al., 2016) with the help of an undergraduate researcher, Emily Mistick. We found that wing

  1. Phase-change-materials as energy source for micro aerial vehicles (MAV)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lidor, A.; Sher, E.; Weihs, D.

    2014-01-01

    While there are many different challenges in the development of micro aerial vehicles (MAV), one of the severe limiting factors in terms of weight is the energy storage/power system. Most of the MAVs developed to date are based on electrical motors. In the present study, several potential alternative energy storage/power systems are examined, evaluated for their specific energy and specific power, and compared to electrical batteries and hydrocarbon fuel storage. Analysis of the power and energy requirements of different MAV configurations, suggests that a specific power of 35–60 W/kg for fixed wing MAV and 65–85 W/kg for rotary wing MAV are needed. The required specific energy for a short mission of 20 min is 15–25 W h/kg for fixed wing MAV and 30–40 W h/kg for rotary wing MAV. Based on these requirements, a novel PCM open-cycle storage/power system is proposed. It comprises of an open cycle that uses the ambient temperature as its hot reservoir. Promising initial results, in terms of specific power (45–70 W/kg), specific energy (24–45 W h/kg) and open-cycle thermodynamic efficiency (22–54%), are presented. Owing to the high potential of the proposed PCM open-cycle, we believe that the development of new PCM materials specifically designed for this purpose is highly deserving. - Highlights: •A novel phase change material open-cycle is proposed for micro aerial vehicles. •The ambient is used as its hot reservoir. •Analysis shows promising results in terms of specific energy and thermal efficiency

  2. Structural Analysis of a Dragonfly Wing

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Jongerius, S.R.; Lentink, D.

    2010-01-01

    Dragonfly wings are highly corrugated, which increases the stiffness and strength of the wing significantly, and results in a lightweight structure with good aerodynamic performance. How insect wings carry aerodynamic and inertial loads, and how the resonant frequency of the flapping wings is tuned

  3. Butterflies regulate wing temperatures using radiative cooling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tsai, Cheng-Chia; Shi, Norman Nan; Ren, Crystal; Pelaez, Julianne; Bernard, Gary D.; Yu, Nanfang; Pierce, Naomi

    2017-09-01

    Butterfly wings are live organs embedded with multiple sensory neurons and, in some species, with pheromoneproducing cells. The proper function of butterfly wings demands a suitable temperature range, but the wings can overheat quickly in the sun due to their small thermal capacity. We developed an infrared technique to map butterfly wing temperatures and discovered that despite the wings' diverse visible colors, regions of wings that contain live cells are the coolest, resulting from the thickness of the wings and scale nanostructures. We also demonstrated that butterflies use behavioral traits to prevent overheating of their wings.

  4. Sound absorption and transmission through flexible micro-perforated panels backed by an air layer and a thin plate.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bravo, Teresa; Maury, Cédric; Pinhède, Cédric

    2012-05-01

    This paper describes theoretical and experimental investigations into the sound absorption and transmission properties of micro-perforated panels (MPP) backed by an air cavity and a thin plate. A fully coupled modal approach is proposed to calculate the absorption coefficient and the transmission loss of finite-sized micro-perforated panels-cavity-panel (MPPCP) partitions with conservative boundary conditions. It is validated against infinite partition models and experimental data. A practical methodology is proposed using collocated pressure-velocity sensors to evaluate in an anechoic environment the transmission and absorption properties of conventional MPPCPs. Results show under which conditions edge scattering effects should be accounted for at low frequencies. Coupled mode analysis is also performed and analytical approximations are derived from the resonance frequencies and mode shapes of a flexible MPPCP. It is found that the Helmholtz-type resonance frequency is deduced from the one associated to the rigidly backed MPPCP absorber shifted up by the mass-air mass resonance of the flexible non-perforated double-panel. Moreover, it is shown analytically and experimentally that the absorption mechanisms at the resonances are governed by a large air-frame relative velocity over the MPP surface, with either in-phase or out-of-phase relationships, depending on the MPPCP parameters.

  5. EFFECTS OF SIMPLIFIED CHEMICAL KINETIC MODEL ON THE MICRO-FLAME STRUCTURE AND TEMPERATURE OF THE LEAN PREMIXED METHANE-AIR MIXTURES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    JUNJIE CHEN

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available The effect of simplified chemical kinetic model on the micro-flame structure, central axis and wall temperatures were investigated with different one-step global chemical kinetic mechanisms following Mantel, Duterque and Fernández-Tarrazo models. Numerical investigations of the premixed methane-air flame in the micro-channel and lean conditions were carried out to compare and analyze the effect of the comprehensive chemical kinetic mechanisms. The results indicate that one-step global chemical kinetic mechanism affects both the micro-flame shape and the combustion temperature. Among three simulation models, Mantel model allows a stable micro-flame with a bamboo shoot form, which anchor at the inlet. Duterque model gives a stable elongated micro-flame with a considerable ignition delay, and a dead zone with fluid accumulation is observed at the entrance, which may explain the very high combustion temperature and the fast reaction rate obtained, despite the micro-flame development presents a very hot spot and causes a broadening of the combustion zone. Fernández-Tarrazo model results in a rapid extinction and doesn't seem to take all the kinetic behavior into account for the appropriate micro-combustion simulations.

  6. A thermally self-sustained micro-power plant with integrated micro-solid oxide fuel cells, micro-reformer and functional micro-fluidic carrier

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scherrer, Barbara; Evans, Anna; Santis-Alvarez, Alejandro J.; Jiang, Bo; Martynczuk, Julia; Galinski, Henning; Nabavi, Majid; Prestat, Michel; Tölke, René; Bieberle-Hütter, Anja; Poulikakos, Dimos; Muralt, Paul; Niedermann, Philippe; Dommann, Alex; Maeder, Thomas; Heeb, Peter; Straessle, Valentin; Muller, Claude; Gauckler, Ludwig J.

    2014-07-01

    Low temperature micro-solid oxide fuel cell (micro-SOFC) systems are an attractive alternative power source for small-size portable electronic devices due to their high energy efficiency and density. Here, we report on a thermally self-sustainable reformer-micro-SOFC assembly. The device consists of a micro-reformer bonded to a silicon chip containing 30 micro-SOFC membranes and a functional glass carrier with gas channels and screen-printed heaters for start-up. Thermal independence of the device from the externally powered heater is achieved by exothermic reforming reactions above 470 °C. The reforming reaction and the fuel gas flow rate of the n-butane/air gas mixture controls the operation temperature and gas composition on the micro-SOFC membrane. In the temperature range between 505 °C and 570 °C, the gas composition after the micro-reformer consists of 12 vol.% to 28 vol.% H2. An open-circuit voltage of 1.0 V and maximum power density of 47 mW cm-2 at 565 °C is achieved with the on-chip produced hydrogen at the micro-SOFC membranes.

  7. Radar Micro-Doppler Feature Extraction Using the Spectrogram and the Cepstrogram

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Harmanny, R.I.A.; Wit, J.J.M. de; Prémel Cabic, G.

    2014-01-01

    The radar micro-Doppler signature of a target is determined by parts of the target moving or rotating in addition to the main body motion. The relative motion of parts is characteristic for different classes of targets, e.g. the flapping motion of a bird's wings vs. the spinning of propeller blades.

  8. AERODYNAMICS OF WING TIP SAILS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    MUSHTAK AL-ATABI

    2006-06-01

    Full Text Available Observers have always been fascinated by soaring birds. An interesting feature of these birds is the existence of few feathers extending from the tip of the wing. In this paper, small lifting surfaces were fitted to the tip of a NACA0012 wing in a fashion similar to that of wing tip feathers. Experimental measurements of induced drag, longitudinal static stability and trailing vortex structure were obtained.The tests showed that adding wing tip surfaces (sails decreased the induced drag factor and increased the longitudinal static stability. Results identified two discrete appositely rotated tip vortices and showed the ability of wing tip surfaces to break them down and to diffuse them.

  9. Aerodynamics of a translating comb-like plate inspired by a fairyfly wing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Seung Hun; Kim, Daegyoum

    2017-08-01

    Unlike the smooth wings of common insects or birds, micro-scale insects such as the fairyfly have a distinctive wing geometry, comprising a frame with several bristles. Motivated by this peculiar wing geometry, we experimentally investigated the flow structure of a translating comb-like wing for a wide range of gap size, angle of attack, and Reynolds number, Re = O(10) - O(103), and the correlation of these parameters with aerodynamic performance. The flow structures of a smooth plate without a gap and a comb-like plate are significantly different at high Reynolds number, while little difference was observed at the low Reynolds number of O(10). At low Reynolds number, shear layers that were generated at the edges of the tooth of the comb-like plate strongly diffuse and eventually block a gap. This gap blockage increases the effective surface area of the plate and alters the formation of leading-edge and trailing-edge vortices. As a result, the comb-like plate generates larger aerodynamic force per unit area than the smooth plate. In addition to a quasi-steady phase after the comb-like plate travels several chords, we also studied a starting phase of the shear layer development when the comb-like plate begins to translate from rest. While a plate with small gap size can generate aerodynamic force at the starting phase as effectively as at the quasi-steady phase, the aerodynamic force drops noticeably for a plate with a large gap because the diffusion of the developing shear layers is not enough to block the gap.

  10. GPS-based microenvironment tracker (MicroTrac) model to estimate time–location of individuals for air pollution exposure assessments: Model evaluation in central North Carolina

    Science.gov (United States)

    Breen, Michael S.; Long, Thomas C.; Schultz, Bradley D.; Crooks, James; Breen, Miyuki; Langstaff, John E.; Isaacs, Kristin K.; Tan, Yu-Mei; Williams, Ronald W.; Cao, Ye; Geller, Andrew M.; Devlin, Robert B.; Batterman, Stuart A.; Buckley, Timothy J.

    2014-01-01

    A critical aspect of air pollution exposure assessment is the estimation of the time spent by individuals in various microenvironments (ME). Accounting for the time spent in different ME with different pollutant concentrations can reduce exposure misclassifications, while failure to do so can add uncertainty and bias to risk estimates. In this study, a classification model, called MicroTrac, was developed to estimate time of day and duration spent in eight ME (indoors and outdoors at home, work, school; inside vehicles; other locations) from global positioning system (GPS) data and geocoded building boundaries. Based on a panel study, MicroTrac estimates were compared with 24-h diary data from nine participants, with corresponding GPS data and building boundaries of home, school, and work. MicroTrac correctly classified the ME for 99.5% of the daily time spent by the participants. The capability of MicroTrac could help to reduce the time–location uncertainty in air pollution exposure models and exposure metrics for individuals in health studies. PMID:24619294

  11. Adaptive wing : Investigations of passive wing technologies for loads reduction in the cleansky smart fixed wing aircraft (SFWA) project

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kruger, W.R.; Dillinger, J; De Breuker, R.; Reyes, M.; Haydn, K.

    2016-01-01

    In the work package “Adaptive Wing” in the Clean-Sky “Smart Fixed Wing Aircraft” (SFWA) project, design processes and solutions for aircraft wings have been created, giving optimal response with respect to loads, comfort and performance by the introduction of passive and active concepts. Central

  12. Experimental and numerical investigation of hetero-/homogeneous combustion-based HCCI of methane–air mixtures in free-piston micro-engines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen, Junjie; Liu, Baofang; Gao, Xuhui; Xu, Deguang

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • Single-shot experiments and a transient model of micro-engine were presented. • Coupled combustion can significantly improve in-cylinder temperatures. • Coupled combustion can reduce mass losses and compression ratios. • Heterogeneous reactions cause earlier ignition. • Heat losses result in higher mass losses. - Abstract: The hetero-/homogenous combustion-based HCCI (homogeneous charge compression ignition) of fuel–lean methane–air mixtures over alumina-supported platinum catalysts was investigated experimentally and numerically in free-piston micro-engines without ignition sources. Single-shot experiments were carried out in the purely homogeneous and coupled hetero-/homogeneous combustion modes, involved temperature measurements, capturing the visible combustion image sequences, exhaust gas analysis, and the physicochemical characterization of catalysts. Simulations were performed with a two-dimensional transient model that includes detailed hetero-/homogeneous chemistry and transport, leakage, and free-piston motion to gain physical insight and to explore the hetero-/homogeneous combustion characteristics. The micro-engine performance concerning combustion efficiency, mass loss, energy density, and free-piston dynamics was investigated. The results reveal that both purely homogeneous and coupled hetero-/homogeneous combustion of methane–air mixtures in a narrow cylinder with a diameter of 3 mm and a height of approximately 0.3 mm are possible. The coupled hetero-/homogeneous mode can not only significantly improve the combustion efficiency, in-cylinder temperature and pressure, output power and energy density, but also reduce the mass loss because of its lower compression ratio and less time spent around TDC (top dead center) and during the expansion stroke, indicating that this coupled mode is a promising combustion scheme for micro-engine. Heat losses result in higher mass losses. Heterogeneous reactions cause earlier ignition

  13. Small-scale fixed wing airplane software verification flight test

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miller, Natasha R.

    The increased demand for micro Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAV) driven by military requirements, commercial use, and academia is creating a need for the ability to quickly and accurately conduct low Reynolds Number aircraft design. There exist several open source software programs that are free or inexpensive that can be used for large scale aircraft design, but few software programs target the realm of low Reynolds Number flight. XFLR5 is an open source, free to download, software program that attempts to take into consideration viscous effects that occur at low Reynolds Number in airfoil design, 3D wing design, and 3D airplane design. An off the shelf, remote control airplane was used as a test bed to model in XFLR5 and then compared to flight test collected data. Flight test focused on the stability modes of the 3D plane, specifically the phugoid mode. Design and execution of the flight tests were accomplished for the RC airplane using methodology from full scale military airplane test procedures. Results from flight test were not conclusive in determining the accuracy of the XFLR5 software program. There were several sources of uncertainty that did not allow for a full analysis of the flight test results. An off the shelf drone autopilot was used as a data collection device for flight testing. The precision and accuracy of the autopilot is unknown. Potential future work should investigate flight test methods for small scale UAV flight.

  14. Stiffness of desiccating insect wings

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mengesha, T E; Vallance, R R; Mittal, R

    2011-01-01

    The stiffness of insect wings is typically determined through experimental measurements. Such experiments are performed on wings removed from insects. However, the wings are subject to desiccation which typically leads to an increase in their stiffness. Although this effect of desiccation is well known, a comprehensive study of the rate of change in stiffness of desiccating insect wings would be a significant aid in planning experiments as well as interpreting data from such experiments. This communication presents a comprehensive experimental analysis of the change in mass and stiffness of gradually desiccating forewings of Painted Lady butterflies (Vanessa cardui). Mass and stiffness of the forewings of five butterflies were simultaneously measured every 10 min over a 24 h period. The averaged results show that wing mass declined exponentially by 21.1% over this time period with a time constant of 9.8 h, while wing stiffness increased linearly by 46.2% at a rate of 23.4 μN mm -1 h -1 . For the forewings of a single butterfly, the experiment was performed over a period of 1 week, and the results show that wing mass declined exponentially by 52.2% with a time constant of 30.2 h until it reached a steady-state level of 2.00 mg, while wing stiffness increased exponentially by 90.7% until it reached a steady-state level of 1.70 mN mm -1 . (communication)

  15. Stiffness of desiccating insect wings

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mengesha, T E; Vallance, R R [Department of Mechanical Engineering, The George Washington University, 738 Phillips Hall, 801 22nd St NW, Washington, DC 20052 (United States); Mittal, R, E-mail: vallance@gwu.edu [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, 126 Latrobe Hall, 3400 N Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States)

    2011-03-15

    The stiffness of insect wings is typically determined through experimental measurements. Such experiments are performed on wings removed from insects. However, the wings are subject to desiccation which typically leads to an increase in their stiffness. Although this effect of desiccation is well known, a comprehensive study of the rate of change in stiffness of desiccating insect wings would be a significant aid in planning experiments as well as interpreting data from such experiments. This communication presents a comprehensive experimental analysis of the change in mass and stiffness of gradually desiccating forewings of Painted Lady butterflies (Vanessa cardui). Mass and stiffness of the forewings of five butterflies were simultaneously measured every 10 min over a 24 h period. The averaged results show that wing mass declined exponentially by 21.1% over this time period with a time constant of 9.8 h, while wing stiffness increased linearly by 46.2% at a rate of 23.4 {mu}N mm{sup -1} h{sup -1}. For the forewings of a single butterfly, the experiment was performed over a period of 1 week, and the results show that wing mass declined exponentially by 52.2% with a time constant of 30.2 h until it reached a steady-state level of 2.00 mg, while wing stiffness increased exponentially by 90.7% until it reached a steady-state level of 1.70 mN mm{sup -1}. (communication)

  16. Development of in-air micro-PIXE analysis and data sharing systems in JAERI Takasaki

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sakai, Takuro; Kamiya, Tomihiro; Oikawa, Masakazu

    2000-01-01

    An external scanning ion microbeam system has been developed for in-air micro-PIXE analysis at JAERI Takasaki. The analysis system is widely used for various researches in recent years. The system consists of the external scanning ion microbeam system, a multi-parameter data acquisition system, a file transfer protocol (FTP) server and analysis software. The software of the system provides a graphical user interface for interaction between users and an experimental setup. The server is connected to the Internet and allows remote users to access the experimental data. (author)

  17. Dynamic of arm’s micro movements of elite athlete in Olympic exercises Rapid Fire Pistol and Air Pistol

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    V.T. Pyatkov

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available Purpose: to scientifically substantiate the method of contactless determination of athlete hand’s movements in Olympic exercises with pistol. Material: in the research we used the data of 37 elite athletes in exercise Air Pistol (n=32 and in exercise Rapid Fire Pistol (n=5. Registration of pistol projection’s quickness of movement in target area was realized with the help of computer system Scatt. In total we analyzed 3100 space-time parameters of athletes’ technical-tactic actions in finalizing phase of shooting cycle. Results: we tested innovative method of contactless measuring of athlete’s hand’s micro movements in finalizing phase of shooting cycle. We found uncontrolled deviations from optimal pistol pointing position in vertical, horizontal and sagittal planes. Quickness of athlete hand’s movements in shooting process was determined. Conclusions: we scientifically substantiated the method of contactless determination of athlete hand’s movements at a distance in Olympic exercises with pistol. Besides, we determined the dynamic of athlete’s hand micro movements in Olympic exercises Rapid Fire Pistol та Air Pistol.

  18. Effect of wing mass in free flight by a butterfly-like 3D flapping wing-body model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suzuki, Kosuke; Okada, Iori; Yoshino, Masato

    2016-11-01

    The effect of wing mass in free flight of a flapping wing is investigated by numerical simulations based on an immersed boundary-lattice Boltzmann method. We consider a butterfly-like 3D flapping wing-model consisting of two square wings with uniform mass density connected by a rod-shaped body. We simulate free flights of the wing-body model with various mass ratios of the wing to the whole of the model. As a result, it is found that the lift and thrust forces decrease as the mass ratio increases, since the body with a large mass ratio experiences large vertical and horizontal oscillations in one period and consequently the wing tip speed relatively decreases. In addition, we find the critical mass ratio between upward flight and downward flight for various Reynolds numbers. This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP16K18012.

  19. Internal air flow analysis of a bladeless micro aerial vehicle hemisphere body using computational fluid dynamic

    Science.gov (United States)

    Othman, M. N. K.; Zuradzman, M. Razlan; Hazry, D.; Khairunizam, Wan; Shahriman, A. B.; Yaacob, S.; Ahmed, S. Faiz; Hussain, Abadalsalam T.

    2014-12-01

    This paper explain the analysis of internal air flow velocity of a bladeless vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) Micro Aerial Vehicle (MAV) hemisphere body. In mechanical design, before produce a prototype model, several analyses should be done to ensure the product's effectiveness and efficiency. There are two types of analysis method can be done in mechanical design; mathematical modeling and computational fluid dynamic. In this analysis, I used computational fluid dynamic (CFD) by using SolidWorks Flow Simulation software. The idea came through to overcome the problem of ordinary quadrotor UAV which has larger size due to using four rotors and the propellers are exposed to environment. The bladeless MAV body is designed to protect all electronic parts, which means it can be used in rainy condition. It also has been made to increase the thrust produced by the ducted propeller compare to exposed propeller. From the analysis result, the air flow velocity at the ducted area increased to twice the inlet air. This means that the duct contribute to the increasing of air velocity.

  20. Internal air flow analysis of a bladeless micro aerial vehicle hemisphere body using computational fluid dynamic

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Othman, M. N. K.; Zuradzman, M. Razlan; Hazry, D.; Khairunizam, Wan; Shahriman, A. B.; Yaacob, S.; Ahmed, S. Faiz

    2014-01-01

    This paper explain the analysis of internal air flow velocity of a bladeless vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) Micro Aerial Vehicle (MAV) hemisphere body. In mechanical design, before produce a prototype model, several analyses should be done to ensure the product's effectiveness and efficiency. There are two types of analysis method can be done in mechanical design; mathematical modeling and computational fluid dynamic. In this analysis, I used computational fluid dynamic (CFD) by using SolidWorks Flow Simulation software. The idea came through to overcome the problem of ordinary quadrotor UAV which has larger size due to using four rotors and the propellers are exposed to environment. The bladeless MAV body is designed to protect all electronic parts, which means it can be used in rainy condition. It also has been made to increase the thrust produced by the ducted propeller compare to exposed propeller. From the analysis result, the air flow velocity at the ducted area increased to twice the inlet air. This means that the duct contribute to the increasing of air velocity

  1. Internal air flow analysis of a bladeless micro aerial vehicle hemisphere body using computational fluid dynamic

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Othman, M. N. K., E-mail: najibkhir86@gmail.com, E-mail: zuradzman@unimap.edu.my, E-mail: hazry@unimap.edu.my, E-mail: khairunizam@unimap.edu.my, E-mail: shahriman@unimap.edu.my, E-mail: s.yaacob@unimap.edu.my, E-mail: syedfaiz@unimap.edu.my, E-mail: abadal@unimap.edu.my; Zuradzman, M. Razlan, E-mail: najibkhir86@gmail.com, E-mail: zuradzman@unimap.edu.my, E-mail: hazry@unimap.edu.my, E-mail: khairunizam@unimap.edu.my, E-mail: shahriman@unimap.edu.my, E-mail: s.yaacob@unimap.edu.my, E-mail: syedfaiz@unimap.edu.my, E-mail: abadal@unimap.edu.my; Hazry, D., E-mail: najibkhir86@gmail.com, E-mail: zuradzman@unimap.edu.my, E-mail: hazry@unimap.edu.my, E-mail: khairunizam@unimap.edu.my, E-mail: shahriman@unimap.edu.my, E-mail: s.yaacob@unimap.edu.my, E-mail: syedfaiz@unimap.edu.my, E-mail: abadal@unimap.edu.my; Khairunizam, Wan, E-mail: najibkhir86@gmail.com, E-mail: zuradzman@unimap.edu.my, E-mail: hazry@unimap.edu.my, E-mail: khairunizam@unimap.edu.my, E-mail: shahriman@unimap.edu.my, E-mail: s.yaacob@unimap.edu.my, E-mail: syedfaiz@unimap.edu.my, E-mail: abadal@unimap.edu.my; Shahriman, A. B., E-mail: najibkhir86@gmail.com, E-mail: zuradzman@unimap.edu.my, E-mail: hazry@unimap.edu.my, E-mail: khairunizam@unimap.edu.my, E-mail: shahriman@unimap.edu.my, E-mail: s.yaacob@unimap.edu.my, E-mail: syedfaiz@unimap.edu.my, E-mail: abadal@unimap.edu.my; Yaacob, S., E-mail: najibkhir86@gmail.com, E-mail: zuradzman@unimap.edu.my, E-mail: hazry@unimap.edu.my, E-mail: khairunizam@unimap.edu.my, E-mail: shahriman@unimap.edu.my, E-mail: s.yaacob@unimap.edu.my, E-mail: syedfaiz@unimap.edu.my, E-mail: abadal@unimap.edu.my; Ahmed, S. Faiz, E-mail: najibkhir86@gmail.com, E-mail: zuradzman@unimap.edu.my, E-mail: hazry@unimap.edu.my, E-mail: khairunizam@unimap.edu.my, E-mail: shahriman@unimap.edu.my, E-mail: s.yaacob@unimap.edu.my, E-mail: syedfaiz@unimap.edu.my, E-mail: abadal@unimap.edu.my [Centre of Excellence for Unmanned Aerial Systems, Universiti Malaysia Perlis, 01000 Kangar, Perlis (Malaysia); and others

    2014-12-04

    This paper explain the analysis of internal air flow velocity of a bladeless vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) Micro Aerial Vehicle (MAV) hemisphere body. In mechanical design, before produce a prototype model, several analyses should be done to ensure the product's effectiveness and efficiency. There are two types of analysis method can be done in mechanical design; mathematical modeling and computational fluid dynamic. In this analysis, I used computational fluid dynamic (CFD) by using SolidWorks Flow Simulation software. The idea came through to overcome the problem of ordinary quadrotor UAV which has larger size due to using four rotors and the propellers are exposed to environment. The bladeless MAV body is designed to protect all electronic parts, which means it can be used in rainy condition. It also has been made to increase the thrust produced by the ducted propeller compare to exposed propeller. From the analysis result, the air flow velocity at the ducted area increased to twice the inlet air. This means that the duct contribute to the increasing of air velocity.

  2. Parametric Dependence of Initial LEV Behavior on Maneuvering Wings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berdon, Randall; Wabick, Kevin; Buchholz, James; Johnson, Kyle; Thurow, Brian; University of Iowa Team; Auburn University Team

    2017-11-01

    A maneuvering rectangular wing of aspect ratio 2 is examined experimentally using dye visualization and PIV to characterize the initial development of the leading-edge vortex (LEV) during a rolling maneuver in a uniform free stream. Understanding the underlying physics during the early evolution of the vortex is important for developing strategies to manipulate vortex evolution. Varying the dimensionless radius of gyration of the wing (Rg/c, where Rg is the radius of gyration and c is the chord) and the advance ratio (J=U/ ΩRg, where U is the free-stream velocity and Ω is the roll rate) affects the structure of the vortex and its propensity to remain attached. The influence of these parameters will be discussed, toward identification of similarity parameters governing vortex development. This work is supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (Grant Number FA9550-16-1-0107, Dr. Douglas Smith, program manager).

  3. Analysis of bat wings for morphing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leylek, Emily A.; Manzo, Justin E.; Garcia, Ephrahim

    2008-03-01

    The morphing of wings from three different bat species is studied using an extension of the Weissinger method. To understand how camber affects performance factors such as lift and lift to drag ratio, XFOIL is used to study thin (3% thickness to chord ratio) airfoils at a low Reynolds number of 100,000. The maximum camber of 9% yielded the largest lift coefficient, and a mid-range camber of 7% yielded the largest lift to drag ratio. Correlations between bat wing morphology and flight characteristics are covered, and the three bat wing planforms chosen represent various combinations of morphological components and different flight modes. The wings are studied using the extended Weissinger method in an "unmorphed" configuration using a thin, symmetric airfoil across the span of the wing through angles of attack of 0°-15°. The wings are then run in the Weissinger method at angles of attack of -2° to 12° in a "morphed" configuration modeled after bat wings seen in flight, where the camber of the airfoils comprising the wings is varied along the span and a twist distribution along the span is introduced. The morphed wing configurations increase the lift coefficient over 1000% from the unmorphed configuration and increase the lift to drag ratio over 175%. The results of the three different species correlate well with their flight in nature.

  4. ON WINGS OF EAGLES; SOUTH AFRICA'S MILITARY AVIATION HISTORY

    OpenAIRE

    Ian Van der Waag

    2012-01-01

    With this book, Major Dave Becker has addressed an important hiatus in the military aviation history of South Africa. On Wings of Eagles is the first all-inclusive history of the South African Air Force to be published since 1970, when the SAAF (mistakenly!) celebrated their golden jubilee. The 1970 publication, Per Aspera ad Astra, was nonetheless a useful brochure and embodied the first attempt to present the entire history of the SAAF within one cover. It was, however, too superficial and ...

  5. A novel hovering type of fixed wing aircraft with stealth capability

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Valeriu DRĂGAN

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available The tactical need for fixed wing aircraft with hovering capably has long been recognized bythe military for two reasons: increased safety when landing on aircraft carriers and higher velocitiesthat the ones obtainable with rotary wing aircraft.Thus far, the only concept governing the field of vertical flight was to use thrust either from a liftfan-F35, puffer ducts –Harrier or smaller jet engines-D0 31 or Yak-141, i.e. direct lift thrust.In this paper we will look at the prospect of using a combination of the Coanda effect with theVenturi effect to generate lift by so- called “supercirculation”. This novel approach can yield manyadvantages to conventional vertical lifting by providing a more stable platform and requiring lowerpower settings – and thus lower fuel consumption.The aircraft has a fixed, negatively sweped wing that uses circulation control to achieve lift atzero air speed. The fluid used for supercirculation will come from the fan thrust reversers – which, ifcorrectly managed, can give a sufficient flow for lifting the craft and also a negative thrust componentto compensate for the positive thrust of the primary flow (not diverted.

  6. Coloration principles of nymphaline butterflies - thin films, melanin, ommochromes and wing scale stacking.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stavenga, Doekele G; Leertouwer, Hein L; Wilts, Bodo D

    2014-06-15

    The coloration of the common butterflies Aglais urticae (small tortoiseshell), Aglais io (peacock) and Vanessa atalanta (red admiral), belonging to the butterfly subfamily Nymphalinae, is due to the species-specific patterning of differently coloured scales on their wings. We investigated the scales' structural and pigmentary properties by applying scanning electron microscopy, (micro)spectrophotometry and imaging scatterometry. The anatomy of the wing scales appears to be basically identical, with an approximately flat lower lamina connected by trabeculae to a highly structured upper lamina, which consists of an array of longitudinal, parallel ridges and transversal crossribs. Isolated scales observed at the abwing (upper) side are blue, yellow, orange, red, brown or black, depending on their pigmentation. The yellow, orange and red scales contain various amounts of 3-OH-kynurenine and ommochrome pigment, black scales contain a high density of melanin, and blue scales have a minor amount of melanin pigment. Observing the scales from their adwing (lower) side always revealed a structural colour, which is blue in the case of blue, red and black scales, but orange for orange scales. The structural colours are created by the lower lamina, which acts as an optical thin film. Its reflectance spectrum, crucially determined by the lamina thickness, appears to be well tuned to the scales' pigmentary spectrum. The colours observed locally on the wing are also due to the degree of scale stacking. Thin films, tuned pigments and combinations of stacked scales together determine the wing coloration of nymphaline butterflies. © 2014. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

  7. Fully self-contained vision-aided navigation and landing of a micro air vehicle independent from external sensor inputs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brockers, Roland; Susca, Sara; Zhu, David; Matthies, Larry

    2012-06-01

    Direct-lift micro air vehicles have important applications in reconnaissance. In order to conduct persistent surveillance in urban environments, it is essential that these systems can perform autonomous landing maneuvers on elevated surfaces that provide high vantage points without the help of any external sensor and with a fully contained on-board software solution. In this paper, we present a micro air vehicle that uses vision feedback from a single down looking camera to navigate autonomously and detect an elevated landing platform as a surrogate for a roof top. Our method requires no special preparation (labels or markers) of the landing location. Rather, leveraging the planar character of urban structure, the landing platform detection system uses a planar homography decomposition to detect landing targets and produce approach waypoints for autonomous landing. The vehicle control algorithm uses a Kalman filter based approach for pose estimation to fuse visual SLAM (PTAM) position estimates with IMU data to correct for high latency SLAM inputs and to increase the position estimate update rate in order to improve control stability. Scale recovery is achieved using inputs from a sonar altimeter. In experimental runs, we demonstrate a real-time implementation running on-board a micro aerial vehicle that is fully self-contained and independent from any external sensor information. With this method, the vehicle is able to search autonomously for a landing location and perform precision landing maneuvers on the detected targets.

  8. Micro-structure and Air-tightness of Squeeze Casting Motor housing for New Energy Vehicle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, Y. F.; Kang, Z. Q.; Jiang, W. F.; Wang, K. W.; Sha, D. L.; Li, M. L.; Sun, J.

    2018-05-01

    In order to improve the performance of automobile parts, the influence of squeeze casting process parameters on casting defects, material structure and air-tightness of aluminum alloy motor housing for new energy vehicle was studied. The results show that the density of the castings increases with the increase in pressure and mold temperature. With increase in pouring temperature, it increases first and then decreases. Pressure has the greatest influence on the density of the castings. Under a certain pressure, with moderate increase in casting temperature and mold temperature, the grain growth begins to increase; the dendrites become less, the new α - Al grains are spherical and granular, the micro-structure is uniform. Also, with increase in pressure, this effect is more pronounced, the air-tightness of castings improve. In conclusion, when the pressure is 110MPa, pouring temperature is 680° C, mold temperature is 280° C, pressure holding for 30s, and punch speed of 0.1m/s, there is no clear shrinkage in the casting, the structure is uniform, the qualified rate of air-tightness of production reaches 86%, and the performance is excellent.

  9. Power and hydrogen production from ammonia in a micro-thermophotovoltaic device integrated with a micro-reformer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Um, Dong Hyun; Kim, Tae Young; Kwon, Oh Chae

    2014-01-01

    Power and hydrogen (H 2 ) production by burning and reforming ammonia (NH 3 ) in a micro-TPV (microscale-thermophotovoltaic) device integrated with a micro-reformer is studied experimentally. A heat-recirculating micro-emitter with the cyclone and helical adapters that enhance the residence time of fed fuel-air mixtures and uniform burning burns H 2 -added NH 3 -air mixtures. A micro-reformer that converts NH 3 to H 2 using ruthenium as a catalyst surrounds the micro-emitter as a heat source. The micro-reformer is surrounded by a chamber, the inner and outer walls of which have installations of gallium antimonide photovoltaic cells and cooling fins. For the micro-reformer-integrated micro-TPV device the maximum overall efficiency of 8.1% with electrical power of 4.5 W and the maximum NH 3 conversion rate of 96.0% with the H 2 production rate of 22.6 W (based on lower heating value) are obtained, indicating that the overall efficiency is remarkably enhanced compared with 2.0% when the micro-TPV device operates alone. This supports the potential of improving the overall efficiency of a micro-TPV device through integrating it with a micro-reformer. Also, the feasibility of using NH 3 as a carbon-free fuel for both burning and reforming in practical micro power and H 2 generation devices has been demonstrated. - Highlights: • Performance of micro-TPV device integrated with micro-reformer is evaluated. • Feasibility of using NH 3 –H 2 blends in integrated system has been demonstrated. • Integration with micro-reformer improves performance of micro-TPV device. • Maximum overall efficiency of 8.1% is found compared with 2.0% without integration

  10. Environmental Assessment for the National Museum of the United States Air Force Addition, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-02-01

    AUTHOR(S) 5d. PROJECT NUMBER 5e. TASK NUMBER 5f. WORK UNIT NUMBER 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) United States Air Force 88th...Air Base Wing Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio 8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION REPORT NUMBER 9. SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES...visitors nationwide and from foreign countries. Softball and soccer fields are located adjacent to the Museum grounds and are operated by the 88 Air

  11. Analysis of the effects of wing interference on the tail contributions to the rolling derivatives

    Science.gov (United States)

    Michael, William H , Jr

    1952-01-01

    An analysis of the effects of wing interference on the tail contributions to the rolling stability derivatives of complete airplane configurations is made by calculating the angularity of the air stream at the vertical tail due to rolling and determining the resulting forces and moments. Some of the important factors which affect the resultant angularity on the vertical tail are wing aspect ratio and sweepback, vertical-tail span, and considerations associated with angle of attack and airplane geometry. Some calculated sidewash results for a limited range of plan forms and vertical-tail sizes are presented. Equations taking into account the sidewash results are given for determining the tail contributions to the rolling derivatives. Comparisons of estimated and experimental results indicate that a consideration of wing interference effects improves the estimated values of the tail contributions to the rolling derivatives and that fair agreement with available experimental data is obtained.

  12. An experimental study of the unsteady vortex structures in the wake of a root-fixed flapping wing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hu, Hui; Clemons, Lucas; Igarashi, Hirofumi

    2011-08-01

    An experimental study was conducted to characterize the evolution of the unsteady vortex structures in the wake of a root-fixed flapping wing with the wing size, stroke amplitude, and flapping frequency within the range of insect characteristics for the development of novel insect-sized nano-air-vehicles (NAVs). The experiments were conducted in a low-speed wing tunnel with a miniaturized piezoelectric wing (i.e., chord length, C = 12.7 mm) flapping at a frequency of 60 Hz (i.e., f = 60 Hz). The non-dimensional parameters of the flapping wing are chord Reynolds number of Re = 1,200, reduced frequency of k = 3.5, and non-dimensional flapping amplitude at wingtip h = A/C = 1.35. The corresponding Strouhal number (Str) is 0.33 , which is well within the optimal range of 0.2 flying insects and birds and swimming fishes for locomotion. A digital particle image velocimetry (PIV) system was used to achieve phased-locked and time-averaged flow field measurements to quantify the transient behavior of the wake vortices in relation to the positions of the flapping wing during the upstroke and down stroke flapping cycles. The characteristics of the wake vortex structures in the chordwise cross planes at different wingspan locations were compared quantitatively to elucidate underlying physics for a better understanding of the unsteady aerodynamics of flapping flight and to explore/optimize design paradigms for the development of novel insect-sized, flapping-wing-based NAVs.

  13. Flapping-wing mechanical butterfly on a wheel

    Science.gov (United States)

    Godoy-Diana, Ramiro; Thiria, Benjamin; Pradal, Daniel

    2009-11-01

    We examine the propulsive performance of a flapping-wing device turning on a ``merry-go-round'' type base. The two-wing flapper is attached to a mast that is ball-bearing mounted to a central shaft in such a way that the thrust force produced by the wings makes the flapper turn around this shaft. The oscillating lift force produced by the flapping wings is aligned with the mast to avoid vibration of the system. A turning contact allows to power the motor that drives the wings. We measure power consumption and cruising speed as a function of flapping frequency and amplitude as well as wing flexibility. The design of the wings permits to change independently their flexibility in the span-wise and chord-wise directions and PIV measurements in various planes let us examine the vorticity field around the device. A complete study of the effect of wing flexibility on the propulsive performance of the system will be presented at the conference.

  14. Contribution to the study of nonstationary aerodynamic forces in problems of interest for Micro-Air Vehicles

    OpenAIRE

    Martín-Alcántara, Antonio

    2016-01-01

    The main aim of this dissertation is the quantitative characterization of the contributions of individual fluid elements (vortices) to aerodynamic forces, explaining and quantifying the mechanisms by which both drag and lift are generated. For this purpose, a vorticity forces formulation was used to the two problems addressed in this thesis. Thus, a novel physical point of view of the flow dynamics is provided which is expected to be useful for the Micro-Air Vehicles (MAVs) design. Firstl...

  15. NASA Innovation Fund 2010 Project Elastically Shaped Future Air Vehicle Concept

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nguyen, Nhan

    2010-01-01

    This report describes a study conducted in 2010 under the NASA Innovation Fund Award to develop innovative future air vehicle concepts. Aerodynamic optimization was performed to produce three different aircraft configuration concepts for low drag, namely drooped wing, inflected wing, and squashed fuselage. A novel wing shaping control concept is introduced. This concept describes a new capability of actively controlling wing shape in-flight to minimize drag. In addition, a novel flight control effector concept is developed to enable wing shaping control. This concept is called a variable camber continuous trailing edge flap that can reduce drag by as much as 50% over a conventional flap. In totality, the potential benefits of fuel savings offered by these concepts can be significant.

  16. Multi-terminal remote monitoring and warning system using Micro Air Vehicle for dangerous environment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, Yanan; Wang, Xiaoxun; He, Chengcheng; Lai, Chenlong; Liu, Yuanchao

    2015-11-01

    For overcoming the problems such as remote operation and dangerous tasks, multi-terminal remote monitoring and warning system based on STC89C52 Micro Control Unit and wireless communication technique was proposed. The system with MCU as its core adopted multiple sets of sensor device to monitor environment parameters of different locations, such as temperature, humidity, smoke other harmful gas concentration. Data information collected was transmitted remotely by wireless transceiver module, and then multi-channel data parameter was processed and displayed through serial communication protocol between the module and PC. The results of system could be checked in the form of web pages within a local network which plays a wireless monitoring and warning role. In a remote operation, four-rotor micro air vehicle which fixed airborne data acquisition device was utilized as a middleware between collecting terminal and PC to increase monitoring scope. Whole test system has characteristics of simple construction, convenience, real time ability and high reliability, which could meet the requirements of actual use.

  17. Role of wing color and seasonal changes in ambient temperature and solar irradiation on predicted flight efficiency of the Albatross.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hassanalian, M; Throneberry, G; Ali, M; Ben Ayed, S; Abdelkefi, A

    2018-01-01

    Drag reduction of the wings of migrating birds is crucial to their flight efficiency. Wing color impacts absorption of solar irradiation which may affect drag but there is little known in this area. To this end, the drag reduction induced by the thermal effect of the wing color of migrating birds with unpowered flight modes is presented in this study. Considering this natural phenomenon in the albatross as an example of migrating birds, and applying an energy balance for this biological system, a thermal analysis is performed on the wings during the summer and winter to obtain different ranges of air density, viscosity, and wing surface temperature brought about from a range of ambient temperatures and climatic conditions seen in different seasons and to study their effects. The exact shape of the albatross wing is used and nine different wing colors are considered in order to gain a better understanding of the effect different colors' absorptivities make on the change in aerodynamic performances. The thermal effect is found to be more important during the summer than during the winter due to the higher values of solar irradiation and a maximum drag reduction of 7.8% is found in summer changing the wing color from light white to dark black. The obtained results show that albatrosses with darker colored wings are more efficient (constant lift to drag ratio and drag reduction) and have better endurance due to this drag reduction. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. Vortex coupling in trailing vortex-wing interactions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, C.; Wang, Z.; Gursul, I.

    2018-03-01

    The interaction of trailing vortices of an upstream wing with rigid and flexible downstream wings has been investigated experimentally in a wind tunnel, using particle image velocimetry, hot-wire, force, and deformation measurements. Counter-rotating upstream vortices exhibit increased meandering when they are close to the tip of the downstream wing. The upstream vortex forms a pair with the vortex shed from the downstream wing and then exhibits large displacements around the wing tip. This coupled motion of the pair has been found to cause large lift fluctuations on the downstream wing. The meandering of the vortex pair occurs at the natural meandering frequency of the isolated vortex, with a low Strouhal number, and is not affected by the frequency of the large-amplitude wing oscillations if the downstream wing is flexible. The displacement of the leading vortex is larger than that of the trailing vortex; however, it causes highly correlated variations of the core radius, core vorticity, and circulation of the trailing vortex with the coupled meandering motion. In contrast, co-rotating vortices do not exhibit any increased meandering.

  19. Subtractive Structural Modification of Morpho Butterfly Wings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shen, Qingchen; He, Jiaqing; Ni, Mengtian; Song, Chengyi; Zhou, Lingye; Hu, Hang; Zhang, Ruoxi; Luo, Zhen; Wang, Ge; Tao, Peng; Deng, Tao; Shang, Wen

    2015-11-11

    Different from studies of butterfly wings through additive modification, this work for the first time studies the property change of butterfly wings through subtractive modification using oxygen plasma etching. The controlled modification of butterfly wings through such subtractive process results in gradual change of the optical properties, and helps the further understanding of structural optimization through natural evolution. The brilliant color of Morpho butterfly wings is originated from the hierarchical nanostructure on the wing scales. Such nanoarchitecture has attracted a lot of research effort, including the study of its optical properties, its potential use in sensing and infrared imaging, and also the use of such structure as template for the fabrication of high-performance photocatalytic materials. The controlled subtractive processes provide a new path to modify such nanoarchitecture and its optical property. Distinct from previous studies on the optical property of the Morpho wing structure, this study provides additional experimental evidence for the origination of the optical property of the natural butterfly wing scales. The study also offers a facile approach to generate new 3D nanostructures using butterfly wings as the templates and may lead to simpler structure models for large-scale man-made structures than those offered by original butterfly wings. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  20. Testing of indoor radon-reduction techniques in basement houses having adjoining wings. Final report, August 1988-September 1989

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Messing, M.

    1990-11-01

    The report gives results of tests of indoor radon reduction techniques in 12 existing Maryland houses, with the objective of determining when basement houses with adjoining wings require active soil depressurization (ASD) treatment of both wings, and when treatment of the basement alone is sufficient. In five basement houses with adjoining slabs on grade, ASD treatment of both wings provided an incremental additional radon reduction of 0 to 5.2 pCi/L, compared to ASD treatment of either one of the slabs alone. However, basement-only treatment reduced radon to <4 pCi/L in all five houses. In six basement houses having adjoining crawl spaces, ASD treatment of both wings (including sub-liner depressurization of the crawl space) provided little additional reduction compared to basement-only treatment, when sub-slab communication was good. When communication was not good, treatment of both wings was required to achieve <4 pCi/L. Tests of one fully slab-on-grade house showed that, when there is good aggregate under the slab, a one-pipe sub-slab depressurization system can achieve <1-2 pCi/L, even when there are forced-air supply ducts under the slab

  1. Thin tailored composite wing for civil tiltrotor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rais-Rohani, Masoud

    1994-01-01

    The tiltrotor aircraft is a flight vehicle which combines the efficient low speed (i.e., take-off, landing, and hover) characteristics of a helicopter with the efficient cruise speed of a turboprop airplane. A well-known example of such vehicle is the Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey. The high cruise speed and range constraints placed on the civil tiltrotor require a relatively thin wing to increase the drag-divergence Mach number which translates into lower compressibility drag. It is required to reduce the wing maximum thickness-to-chord ratio t/c from 23% (i.e., V-22 wing) to 18%. While a reduction in wing thickness results in improved aerodynamic efficiency, it has an adverse effect on the wing structure and it tends to reduce structural stiffness. If ignored, the reduction in wing stiffness leads to susceptibility to aeroelastic and dynamic instabilities which may consequently cause a catastrophic failure. By taking advantage of the directional stiffness characteristics of composite materials the wing structure may be tailored to have the necessary stiffness, at a lower thickness, while keeping the weight low. The goal of this study is to design a wing structure for minimum weight subject to structural, dynamic and aeroelastic constraints. The structural constraints are in terms of strength and buckling allowables. The dynamic constraints are in terms of wing natural frequencies in vertical and horizontal bending and torsion. The aeroelastic constraints are in terms of frequency placement of the wing structure relative to those of the rotor system. The wing-rotor-pylon aeroelastic and dynamic interactions are limited in this design study by holding the cruise speed, rotor-pylon system, and wing geometric attributes fixed. To assure that the wing-rotor stability margins are maintained a more rigorous analysis based on a detailed model of the rotor system will need to ensue following the design study. The skin-stringer-rib type architecture is used for the wing

  2. Populists in Parliament : Comparing Left-Wing and Right-Wing Populism in the Netherlands

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Otjes, Simon; Louwerse, Tom

    2015-01-01

    In parliament, populist parties express their positions almost every day through voting. There is great diversity among them, for instance between left-wing and right-wing populist parties. This gives rise to the question: is the parliamentary behaviour of populists motivated by their populism or by

  3. Conical Euler solution for a highly-swept delta wing undergoing wing-rock motion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Elizabeth M.; Batina, John T.

    1990-01-01

    Modifications to an unsteady conical Euler code for the free-to-roll analysis of highly-swept delta wings are described. The modifications involve the addition of the rolling rigid-body equation of motion for its simultaneous time-integration with the governing flow equations. The flow solver utilized in the Euler code includes a multistage Runge-Kutta time-stepping scheme which uses a finite-volume spatial discretization on an unstructured mesh made up of triangles. Steady and unsteady results are presented for a 75 deg swept delta wing at a freestream Mach number of 1.2 and an angle of attack of 30 deg. The unsteady results consist of forced harmonic and free-to-roll calculations. The free-to-roll case exhibits a wing rock response produced by unsteady aerodynamics consistent with the aerodynamics of the forced harmonic results. Similarities are shown with a wing-rock time history from a low-speed wind tunnel test.

  4. Functional Gustatory Role of Chemoreceptors in Drosophila Wings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Raad, Hussein; Ferveur, Jean-François; Ledger, Neil; Capovilla, Maria; Robichon, Alain

    2016-05-17

    Neuroanatomical evidence argues for the presence of taste sensilla in Drosophila wings; however, the taste physiology of insect wings remains hypothetical, and a comprehensive link to mechanical functions, such as flight, wing flapping, and grooming, is lacking. Our data show that the sensilla of the Drosophila anterior wing margin respond to both sweet and bitter molecules through an increase in cytosolic Ca(2+) levels. Conversely, genetically modified flies presenting a wing-specific reduction in chemosensory cells show severe defects in both wing taste signaling and the exploratory guidance associated with chemodetection. In Drosophila, the chemodetection machinery includes mechanical grooming, which facilitates the contact between tastants and wing chemoreceptors, and the vibrations of flapping wings that nebulize volatile molecules as carboxylic acids. Together, these data demonstrate that the Drosophila wing chemosensory sensilla are a functional taste organ and that they may have a role in the exploration of ecological niches. Copyright © 2016 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  5. Assessment of radiological status of underground tunnel of radiochemistry wing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Patre, D.K.; Thanamani, S.; Ojha, Shashikala; Murali, S.

    2012-01-01

    Radiochemistry Wing, RLG has design based safety systems for lab exhaust and glove box ventilation exhaust. The respective exhaust headers are routed from the lab exhaust point to the filter house. The concretized underground tunnel runs between Radiochemistry wing, RLG and Filter house about 100 m away. It houses the main exhaust tunnel made of MS, has reportedly developed leakage in the MS lines of exhaust due to ageing. It was indicated by the inadequate ventilation to the lab exhaust which reduced ∼ 10 % of the total exhaust. It was decided to carry out the replacement of main exhaust duct subject to radiological safety and clearance from the regulatory agencies. Since the duct had been in use since past 40 years, HP assessment on contamination status, clearance from local safety committee and related regulatory agency are mandatory. In view of the same, the study on radiological parameters was taken up and the paper describes the results of our radiological surveillance. Proposed replacement work involves approximately estimated surface area of duct as 520 m 2 , volume of the material as 106 m 3 and the weight of material of exhaust duct as 12.5 tons. Underground tunnel of radiochemistry wing consists of 3 main segments. It was monitored thoroughly by radiation survey. Spot air sample was collected during the radiological survey. Around 200 swipes were taken from various portions of the segments and the effluent pipelines. Last two tunnel segment were not approachable. Smear swipes were taken from top, side, bottom and floor of each segment. Calibrated scintillation counters were used for assessment of μ air activity and μ contamination check. Spot air samples were taken during different operations showed no activity. Dose rate in the tunnel was found to be less than 1 μSv/h (0.1 mR/h). The μ contamination levels were found in increasing order from the first segment to the last segment. (0.05 - 0.1 Bq/cm 2 ). Effluent pipelines were found to have

  6. Semi-automated quantitative Drosophila wings measurements.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Loh, Sheng Yang Michael; Ogawa, Yoshitaka; Kawana, Sara; Tamura, Koichiro; Lee, Hwee Kuan

    2017-06-28

    Drosophila melanogaster is an important organism used in many fields of biological research such as genetics and developmental biology. Drosophila wings have been widely used to study the genetics of development, morphometrics and evolution. Therefore there is much interest in quantifying wing structures of Drosophila. Advancement in technology has increased the ease in which images of Drosophila can be acquired. However such studies have been limited by the slow and tedious process of acquiring phenotypic data. We have developed a system that automatically detects and measures key points and vein segments on a Drosophila wing. Key points are detected by performing image transformations and template matching on Drosophila wing images while vein segments are detected using an Active Contour algorithm. The accuracy of our key point detection was compared against key point annotations of users. We also performed key point detection using different training data sets of Drosophila wing images. We compared our software with an existing automated image analysis system for Drosophila wings and showed that our system performs better than the state of the art. Vein segments were manually measured and compared against the measurements obtained from our system. Our system was able to detect specific key points and vein segments from Drosophila wing images with high accuracy.

  7. Anisotropy and non-homogeneity of an Allomyrina Dichotoma beetle hind wing membrane

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ha, N S; Jin, T L; Goo, N S; Park, H C

    2011-01-01

    Biomimetics is one of the most important paradigms as researchers seek to invent better engineering designs over human history. However, the observation of insect flight is a relatively recent work. Several researchers have tried to address the aerodynamic performance of flapping creatures and other natural properties of insects, although there are still many unsolved questions. In this study, we try to answer the questions related to the mechanical properties of a beetle's hind wing, which consists of a stiff vein structure and a flexible membrane. The membrane of a beetle's hind wing is small and flexible to the point that conventional methods cannot adequately quantify the material properties. The digital image correlation method, a non-contact displacement measurement method, is used along with a specially designed mini-tensile testing system. To reduce the end effects, we developed an experimental method that can deal with specimens with as high an aspect ratio as possible. Young's modulus varies over the area in the wing and ranges from 2.97 to 4.5 GPa in the chordwise direction and from 1.63 to 2.24 GPa in the spanwise direction. Furthermore, Poisson's ratio in the chordwise direction is 0.63-0.73 and approximately twice as large as that in the spanwise direction (0.33-0.39). From these results, we can conclude that the membrane of a beetle's hind wing is an anisotropic and non-homogeneous material. Our results will provide a better understanding of the flapping mechanism through the formulation of a fluid-structure interaction analysis or aero-elasticity analysis and meritorious data for biomaterial properties database as well as a creative design concept for a micro aerial flapper that mimics an insect.

  8. Control and navigation system for a fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ruiyong Zhai

    2014-02-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a flight control and navigation system for a fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV with low-cost micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS sensors. The system is designed under the inner loop and outer loop strategy. The trajectory tracking navigation loop is the outer loop of the attitude loop, while the attitude control loop is the outer loop of the stabilization loop. The proportional-integral-derivative (PID control was adopted for stabilization and attitude control. The three-dimensional (3D trajectory tracking control of a UAV could be approximately divided into lateral control and longitudinal control. The longitudinal control employs traditional linear PID feedback to achieve the desired altitude of the UAV, while the lateral control uses a non-linear control method to complete the desired trajectory. The non-linear controller can automatically adapt to ground velocity change, which is usually caused by gust disturbance, thus the UAV has good wind resistance characteristics. Flight tests and survey missions were carried out with our self-developed delta fixed-wing UAV and MEMS-based autopilot to confirm the effectiveness and practicality of the proposed navigation method.

  9. AFM study of structure influence on butterfly wings coloration

    OpenAIRE

    Dallaeva, Dinara; Tománek, Pavel

    2012-01-01

    This study describes the structural coloration of the butterfly Vanessa Atalanta wings and shows how the atomic force microscopy (AFM) can be applied to the study of wings morphology and wings surface behavior under the temperature. The role of the wings morphology in colors was investigated. Different colors of wings have different topology and can be identified by them. AFM in semi-contact mode was used to study the wings surface. The wing surface area, which is close to the butterfly body,...

  10. THE EFFECTS OF SWIRL GENERATOR HAVING WINGS WITH HOLES ON HEAT TRANSFER AND PRESSURE DROP IN TUBE HEAT EXCHANGER

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zeki ARGUNHAN

    2006-02-01

    Full Text Available This paper examines the effect of turbulance creators on heat transfer and pressure drop used in concentric heat exchanger experimentaly. Heat exchanger has an inlet tube with 60 mm in diameter. The angle of swirl generators wings is 55º with each wing which has single, double, three and four holes. Swirl generators is designed to easily set to heat exchanger entrance. Air is passing through inner tube of heat exhanger as hot fluid and water is passing outer of inner tube as cool fluid.

  11. Quantifying the dynamic wing morphing of hovering hummingbird.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maeda, Masateru; Nakata, Toshiyuki; Kitamura, Ikuo; Tanaka, Hiroto; Liu, Hao

    2017-09-01

    Animal wings are lightweight and flexible; hence, during flapping flight their shapes change. It has been known that such dynamic wing morphing reduces aerodynamic cost in insects, but the consequences in vertebrate flyers, particularly birds, are not well understood. We have developed a method to reconstruct a three-dimensional wing model of a bird from the wing outline and the feather shafts (rachides). The morphological and kinematic parameters can be obtained using the wing model, and the numerical or mechanical simulations may also be carried out. To test the effectiveness of the method, we recorded the hovering flight of a hummingbird ( Amazilia amazilia ) using high-speed cameras and reconstructed the right wing. The wing shape varied substantially within a stroke cycle. Specifically, the maximum and minimum wing areas differed by 18%, presumably due to feather sliding; the wing was bent near the wrist joint, towards the upward direction and opposite to the stroke direction; positive upward camber and the 'washout' twist (monotonic decrease in the angle of incidence from the proximal to distal wing) were observed during both half-strokes; the spanwise distribution of the twist was uniform during downstroke, but an abrupt increase near the wrist joint was found during upstroke.

  12. Carbon-based micro-ball and micro-crystal deposition using filamentary pulsed atmospheric pressure plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pothiraja, Ramasamy; Bibinov, Nikita; Awakowicz, Peter

    2014-01-01

    Thin plasma filaments are produced by the propagation of ionization waves from a spiked driven electrode in a quartz tube in an argon/methane gas mixture (2400 sccm/2 sccm) at atmospheric pressure. The position of the touch point of filaments on the substrate surface is controlled in our experiment by applying various suitable substrate configurations and geometries of the grounded electrode. The gas conditions at the touch point are varied from argon to ambient air. Based on microphotography and discharge current waveforms, the duration of the filament touching the substrate is estimated to be about one microsecond. Carbon-based materials are deposited during this time at the touch points on the substrate surface. Micro-balls are produced if the filament touch points are saved from ambient air by the argon flow. Under an air admixture, micro-crystals are formed. The dimension of both materials is approximately one micrometre (0.5–2 µm) and corresponds to about 10 10 –10 12 carbon atoms. Neither the diffusion of neutral species nor drift of ions can be reason for the formation of such a big micro-material during this short period of filament–substrate interaction. It is possible that charged carbon-based materials are formed in the plasma channel and transported to the surface of the substrate. The mechanism of this transport and characterization of micro-materials, which are formed under different gas conditions in our experiment, will be studied in the future. (paper)

  13. Investigation on the Acoustic Absorption of Flexible Micro-Perforated Panel with Ultra-Micro Perforations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Guoxin; Tang, Xiaoning; Zhang, Xiaoxiao; Qian, Y. J.; Kong, Deyi

    2017-11-01

    Flexible micro-perforated panel has unique advantages in noise reduction due to its good flexibility compared with traditional rigid micro-perforated panel. In this paper, flexible micro-perforated panel was prepared by computer numerical control (CNC) milling machine. Three kinds of plastics including polyvinylchloride (PVC), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and polyimide (PI) were taken as the matrix materials to prepare flexible micro-perforated panel. It has been found that flexible micro-perforated panel made of PET possessing good porosity and proper density, elastic modulus and poisson ratio exhibited the best acoustic absorption properties. The effects of various structural parameters including perforation diameter, perforation ratio, thickness and air gap have also been investigated, which would be helpful to the optimization of acoustic absorption properties.

  14. Experimental study on premixed CH{sub 4}/air mixture combustion in micro Swiss-roll combustors

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhong, Bei-Jing; Wang, Jian-Hua [Key Laboratory for Thermal Science and Power Engineering of Ministry of Education, Department of Engineering Mechanics, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084 (China)

    2010-12-15

    Excess enthalpy combustion is a promising approach to stabilize flame in micro-combustors. Using a Swiss-roll combustor configuration, excess enthalpy combustion can be conveniently achieved. In this work, three types of Swiss-roll combustors with double spiral-shaped channels were designed and fabricated. The combustors were tested using methane/air mixtures of various equivalence ratios. Both temperature distributions and extinction limits were determined for each combustor configuration at different methane mass flow rates. Results indicate that the Swiss-roll combustors developed in the current study greatly enhance combustion stability in center regions of the combustors. At the same time, excess enthalpy combustors of the Swiss-roll configuration significantly extend the extinction limits of methane/air mixtures. In addition, the effects of combustor configurations and thermal insulation arrangements on temperature distributions and extinction limits were evaluated. With heat losses to the environment being significant, the use of thermal insulations further enhances the flame stability in center regions of the Swiss-roll combustors and extends flammable ranges. (author)

  15. Real-Time Fixed-Order Lateral H2 Controller for Micro Air Vehicle

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Meenakshi M.

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents the design and development of a fixed low-order, robust H2 controller for a micro air vehicle (MAV named Sarika-2. The controller synthesis uses strengthened discrete optimal projection equations and frequency-dependent performance index to achieve robust performance and stability. A single fixed gain low-order dynamic controller provides simultaneous stabilization, disturbance rejection, and sensor noise attenuation over the entire flight speed range of 16 m/sec to 26 m/sec. Comparative study indicates that the low-order H2-controller achieves robust performance levels similar to that of full order controller. Subsequently, the controller is implemented on a digital signal processor-based flight computer and is validated through the real time hardware in loop simulation. The responses obtained with hardware in loop simulation compares well with those obtained from the offline simulation.

  16. MicroRNAs and the Evolution of Insect Metamorphosis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Belles, Xavier

    2017-01-31

    MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are involved in the regulation of a number of processes associated with metamorphosis, either in the less modified hemimetabolan mode or in the more modified holometabolan mode. The miR-100/let-7/miR-125 cluster has been studied extensively, especially in relation to wing morphogenesis in both hemimetabolan and holometabolan species. Other miRNAs also participate in wing morphogenesis, as well as in programmed cell and tissue death, neuromaturation, neuromuscular junction formation, and neuron cell fate determination, typically during the pupal stage of holometabolan species. A special case is the control of miR-2 over Kr-h1 transcripts, which determines adult morphogenesis in the hemimetabolan metamorphosis. This is an elegant example of how a single miRNA can control an entire process by acting on a crucial mediator; however, this is a quite exceptional mechanism that was apparently lost during the transition from hemimetaboly to holometaboly.

  17. Low Aspect-Ratio Wings for Wing-Ships

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Filippone, Antonino; Selig, M.

    1998-01-01

    Flying on ground poses technical and aerodynamical challenges. The requirements for compactness, efficiency, manouverability, off-design operation,open new areas of investigations in the fieldof aerodynamic analysis and design. A review ofthe characteristics of low-aspect ratio wings, in- and out...

  18. Poster Puzzler Solution: Taking in Air | Poster

    Science.gov (United States)

    The current Poster Puzzler image shows the top of Building 560, where a new supply air handler was recently installed by Facilities Maintenance and Engineering (FME) staff, as part of lab renovations in wing 1, floor 1. FME staff enlarged the attic of the building to make space for the air handler. Building 560, the largest building at the NCI at Frederick campus, houses about

  19. Variable volume combustor with an air bypass system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, Thomas Edward; Ziminsky, Willy Steve; Ostebee, Heath Michael; Keener, Christopher Paul

    2017-02-07

    The present application provides a combustor for use with flow of fuel and a flow of air in a gas turbine engine. The combustor may include a number of micro-mixer fuel nozzles positioned within a liner and an air bypass system position about the liner. The air bypass system variably allows a bypass portion of the flow of air to bypass the micro-mixer fuel nozzles.

  20. Modeling and Optimization for Morphing Wing Concept Generation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Skillen, Michael D.; Crossley, William A.

    2007-01-01

    This report consists of two major parts: 1) the approach to develop morphing wing weight equations, and 2) the approach to size morphing aircraft. Combined, these techniques allow the morphing aircraft to be sized with estimates of the morphing wing weight that are more credible than estimates currently available; aircraft sizing results prior to this study incorporated morphing wing weight estimates based on general heuristics for fixed-wing flaps (a comparable "morphing" component) but, in general, these results were unsubstantiated. This report will show that the method of morphing wing weight prediction does, in fact, drive the aircraft sizing code to different results and that accurate morphing wing weight estimates are essential to credible aircraft sizing results.

  1. Cavitational micro-particles: plasma formation mechanisms

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bica, Ioan

    2005-01-01

    Cavitational micro-particles are a class to which the micro-spheres, the micro-tubes and the octopus-shaped micro-particles belong. The cavitational micro-particles (micro-spheres, micro-tubes and octopus-shaped micro-particles) at an environmental pressure. The micro-spheres, the micro-tubes and the ligaments of the octopus-shaped micro-particles are produced in the argon plasma and are formed of vapors with low values of the molar concentration in comparison with the molar density of the gas and vapor mixture, the first one on the unstable and the last two on the stable movement of the vapors. The ligaments of the octopus-shaped micro-particles are open at the top for well-chosen values of the sub-cooling of the vapor and gas cylinders. The nitrogen in the air favors the formation of pores in the wall of the micro-spheres. In this paper we present the cavitational micro-particles, their production in the plasma and some mechanisms for their formation in the plasma. (author)

  2. The bHLH factors Dpn and members of the E(spl complex mediate the function of Notch signalling regulating cell proliferation during wing disc development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Beatriz P. San Juan

    2012-05-01

    The Notch signalling pathway plays an essential role in the intricate control of cell proliferation and pattern formation in many organs during animal development. In addition, mutations in most members of this pathway are well characterized and frequently lead to tumour formation. The Drosophila imaginal wing discs have provided a suitable model system for the genetic and molecular analysis of the different pathway functions. During disc development, Notch signalling at the presumptive wing margin is necessary for the restricted activation of genes required for pattern formation control and disc proliferation. Interestingly, in different cellular contexts within the wing disc, Notch can either promote cell proliferation or can block the G1-S transition by negatively regulating the expression of dmyc and bantam micro RNA. The target genes of Notch signalling that are required for these functions have not been identified. Here, we show that the Hes vertebrate homolog, deadpan (dpn, and the Enhancer-of-split complex (E(splC genes act redundantly and cooperatively to mediate the Notch signalling function regulating cell proliferation during wing disc development.

  3. AFM Study of Structure Influence on Butterfly Wings Coloration

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dinara Sultanovna Dallaeva

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available This study describes the structural coloration of the butterfly Vanessa Atalanta wings and shows how the atomic force microscopy (AFM can be applied to the study of wings morphology and wings surface behavior under the temperature. The role of the wings morphology in colors was investigated. Different colors of wings have different topology and can be identified by them. AFM in semi-contact mode was used to study the wings surface. The wing surface area, which is close to the butterfly body, has shiny brown color and the peak of surface roughness is about 600 nm. The changing of morphology at different temperatures is shown.

  4. Distribution and predictors of wing shape and size variability in three sister species of solitary bees.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Simon Dellicour

    Full Text Available Morphological traits can be highly variable over time in a particular geographical area. Different selective pressures shape those traits, which is crucial in evolutionary biology. Among these traits, insect wing morphometry has already been widely used to describe phenotypic variability at the inter-specific level. On the contrary, fewer studies have focused on intra-specific wing morphometric variability. Yet, such investigations are relevant to study potential convergences of variation that could highlight micro-evolutionary processes. The recent sampling and sequencing of three solitary bees of the genus Melitta across their entire species range provides an excellent opportunity to jointly analyse genetic and morphometric variability. In the present study, we first aim to analyse the spatial distribution of the wing shape and centroid size (used as a proxy for body size variability. Secondly, we aim to test different potential predictors of this variability at both the intra- and inter-population levels, which includes genetic variability, but also geographic locations and distances, elevation, annual mean temperature and precipitation. The comparison of spatial distribution of intra-population morphometric diversity does not reveal any convergent pattern between species, thus undermining the assumption of a potential local and selective adaptation at the population level. Regarding intra-specific wing shape differentiation, our results reveal that some tested predictors, such as geographic and genetic distances, are associated with a significant correlation for some species. However, none of these predictors are systematically identified for the three species as an important factor that could explain the intra-specific morphometric variability. As a conclusion, for the three solitary bee species and at the scale of this study, our results clearly tend to discard the assumption of the existence of a common pattern of intra-specific signal

  5. Distribution and predictors of wing shape and size variability in three sister species of solitary bees.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dellicour, Simon; Gerard, Maxence; Prunier, Jérôme G; Dewulf, Alexandre; Kuhlmann, Michael; Michez, Denis

    2017-01-01

    Morphological traits can be highly variable over time in a particular geographical area. Different selective pressures shape those traits, which is crucial in evolutionary biology. Among these traits, insect wing morphometry has already been widely used to describe phenotypic variability at the inter-specific level. On the contrary, fewer studies have focused on intra-specific wing morphometric variability. Yet, such investigations are relevant to study potential convergences of variation that could highlight micro-evolutionary processes. The recent sampling and sequencing of three solitary bees of the genus Melitta across their entire species range provides an excellent opportunity to jointly analyse genetic and morphometric variability. In the present study, we first aim to analyse the spatial distribution of the wing shape and centroid size (used as a proxy for body size) variability. Secondly, we aim to test different potential predictors of this variability at both the intra- and inter-population levels, which includes genetic variability, but also geographic locations and distances, elevation, annual mean temperature and precipitation. The comparison of spatial distribution of intra-population morphometric diversity does not reveal any convergent pattern between species, thus undermining the assumption of a potential local and selective adaptation at the population level. Regarding intra-specific wing shape differentiation, our results reveal that some tested predictors, such as geographic and genetic distances, are associated with a significant correlation for some species. However, none of these predictors are systematically identified for the three species as an important factor that could explain the intra-specific morphometric variability. As a conclusion, for the three solitary bee species and at the scale of this study, our results clearly tend to discard the assumption of the existence of a common pattern of intra-specific signal/structure within the

  6. PEGIDA : fearful patriots or right-wing radicals?

    OpenAIRE

    Glasmeier, Ruth Katharina

    2016-01-01

    Right-wing movements have become more popular in recent years. This shows in the increase of right-wing populist or right-wing radical parties in different European governments. Despite this European wide trend, Germany did not have a successful right-wing movement. This changed with the creation of PEGIDA and the AfD. Since this type of movement is relatively new in Germany, this thesis aims to understand PEGIDA. The thesis aims to answer the question of Who are PEGIDA? To do so, it will...

  7. Multi-wing hyperchaotic attractors from coupled Lorenz systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Grassi, Giuseppe; Severance, Frank L.; Miller, Damon A.

    2009-01-01

    This paper illustrates an approach to generate multi-wing attractors in coupled Lorenz systems. In particular, novel four-wing (eight-wing) hyperchaotic attractors are generated by coupling two (three) identical Lorenz systems. The paper shows that the equilibria of the proposed systems have certain symmetries with respect to specific coordinate planes and the eigenvalues of the associated Jacobian matrices exhibit the property of similarity. In analogy with the original Lorenz system, where the two-wings of the butterfly attractor are located around the two equilibria with the unstable pair of complex-conjugate eigenvalues, this paper shows that the four-wings (eight-wings) of these attractors are located around the four (eight) equilibria with two (three) pairs of unstable complex-conjugate eigenvalues.

  8. Hybrid Wing-Body Pressurized Fuselage and Bulkhead, Design and Optimization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mukhopadhyay, Vivek

    2013-01-01

    The structural weight reduction of a pressurized Hybrid Wing-Body (HWB) fuselage is a serious challenge. Hence, research and development are presently being continued at NASA under the Environmentally Responsible Aviation (ERA) and Subsonic Fixed Wing (SFW) projects in collaboration with the Boeing Company, Huntington Beach and Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). In this paper, a structural analysis of the HWB fuselage and bulkhead panels is presented, with the objectives of design improvement and structural weight reduction. First, orthotropic plate theories for sizing, and equivalent plate analysis with appropriate simplification are considered. Then parametric finite-element analysis of a fuselage section and bulkhead are conducted using advanced stitched composite structural concepts, which are presently being developed at Boeing for pressurized HWB flight vehicles. With this advanced stiffened-shell design, structural weights are computed and compared to the thick sandwich, vaulted-ribbed-shell, and multi-bubble stiffened-shell structural concepts that had been studied previously. The analytical and numerical results are discussed to assess the overall weight/strength advantages.

  9. Ovarian hemangiosarcoma in an orange-winged Amazon parrot (Amazona amazonica).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mickley, Kimberly; Buote, Melanie; Kiupel, Matti; Graham, Jennifer; Orcutt, Connie

    2009-03-01

    A 25-year-old intact female orange-winged Amazon parrot (Amazona amazonica) presented for a 2-week history of straining to defecate, lethargy, open-beak breathing, decreased vocalization, and ruffled feathers. On physical examination, the parrot had a heart murmur, increased air sac and lung sounds, open-beak breathing, increased respiratory rate and effort, and coelomic distension. An ultrasound revealed intracoelomic fluid, and hemorrhagic fluid was aspirated from the coelom. Cytologic analysis indicated hemocoelom. Pericardial effusion was observed during the sonogram, and pericardiocentesis was performed. The bird was euthanatized upon the owner's request because of a poor prognosis. At necropsy, several masses that involved the ovary and oviduct were observed, as well as a thickened pericardium and a thickened, fibrinous epicardium. Results of a histopathologic examination of the masses that involved the reproductive tract revealed ovarian hemangiosarcoma, which was confirmed by immunohistochemical staining. To our knowledge, ovarian hemangiosarcoma has not been reported in a psittacine species, nor has immunohistochemistry confirmed ovarian hemangiosarcoma in avian species, specifically in an orange-winged Amazon parrot.

  10. Ebb and Flow: Maintaining the Close Air Support Relationship through History

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-05-10

    3-09.3, Close Air Support (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 2014), xi. 20 Scott Fischer , LtCol, USAF, “Army and Air Force Subcultures...also happens that airmen and ground forces can 30 Jeff Schogol, "Welsh: The Air Force cares about...Advanced Military Studies, 2004), 59. 60 Fischer , “Army Air Force Subcultures,” 15. 61 Bolton, “Army Fixed-Wing Attack,” 5-6. 21 external

  11. Bio-inspired multi-mode optic flow sensors for micro air vehicles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Park, Seokjun; Choi, Jaehyuk; Cho, Jihyun; Yoon, Euisik

    2013-06-01

    Monitoring wide-field surrounding information is essential for vision-based autonomous navigation in micro-air-vehicles (MAV). Our image-cube (iCube) module, which consists of multiple sensors that are facing different angles in 3-D space, can be applied to the wide-field of view optic flows estimation (μ-Compound eyes) and to attitude control (μ- Ocelli) in the Micro Autonomous Systems and Technology (MAST) platforms. In this paper, we report an analog/digital (A/D) mixed-mode optic-flow sensor, which generates both optic flows and normal images in different modes for μ- Compound eyes and μ-Ocelli applications. The sensor employs a time-stamp based optic flow algorithm which is modified from the conventional EMD (Elementary Motion Detector) algorithm to give an optimum partitioning of hardware blocks in analog and digital domains as well as adequate allocation of pixel-level, column-parallel, and chip-level signal processing. Temporal filtering, which may require huge hardware resources if implemented in digital domain, is remained in a pixel-level analog processing unit. The rest of the blocks, including feature detection and timestamp latching, are implemented using digital circuits in a column-parallel processing unit. Finally, time-stamp information is decoded into velocity from look-up tables, multiplications, and simple subtraction circuits in a chip-level processing unit, thus significantly reducing core digital processing power consumption. In the normal image mode, the sensor generates 8-b digital images using single slope ADCs in the column unit. In the optic flow mode, the sensor estimates 8-b 1-D optic flows from the integrated mixed-mode algorithm core and 2-D optic flows with an external timestamp processing, respectively.

  12. Insect Wing Displacement Measurement Using Digital Holography

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aguayo, Daniel D.; Mendoza Santoyo, Fernando; Torre I, Manuel H. de la; Caloca Mendez, Cristian I.

    2008-01-01

    Insects in flight have been studied with optical non destructive techniques with the purpose of using meaningful results in aerodynamics. With the availability of high resolution and large dynamic range CCD sensors the so called interferometric digital holographic technique was used to measure the surface displacement of in flight insect wings, such as butterflies. The wings were illuminated with a continuous wave Verdi laser at 532 nm, and observed with a CCD Pixelfly camera that acquire images at a rate of 11.5 frames per second at a resolution of 1392x1024 pixels and 12 Bit dynamic range. At this frame rate digital holograms of the wings were captured and processed in the usual manner, namely, each individual hologram is Fourier processed in order to find the amplitude and phase corresponding to the digital hologram. The wings displacement is obtained when subtraction between two digital holograms is performed for two different wings position, a feature applied to all consecutive frames recorded. The result of subtracting is seen as a wrapped phase fringe pattern directly related to the wing displacement. The experimental data for different butterfly flying conditions and exposure times are shown as wire mesh plots in a movie of the wings displacement

  13. On the Distinct Effects of Left-Wing and Right-Wing Populism on Democratic Quality

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Robert A. Huber

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available This study examines the differences and commonalities of how populist parties of the left and right relate to democracy. The focus is narrowed to the relationship between these parties and two aspects of democratic quality, minority rights and mutual constraints. Our argument is twofold: first, we contend that populist parties can exert distinct influences on minority rights, depending on whether they are left-wing or right-wing populist parties. Second, by contrast, we propose that the association between populist parties and mutual constraints is a consequence of the populist element and thus, we expect no differences between the left-wing and right-wing parties. We test our expectations against data from 30 European countries between 1990 and 2012. Our empirical findings support the argument for the proposed differences regarding minority rights and, to a lesser extent, the proposed similarities regarding mutual constraints. Therefore we conclude that, when examining the relationship between populism and democracy, populism should not be considered in isolation from its host ideology.

  14. Unsteady surface pressure measurements on a slender delta wing undergoing limit cycle wing rock

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arena, Andrew S., Jr.; Nelson, Robert C.

    1991-01-01

    An experimental investigation of slender wing limit cycle motion known as wing rock was investigated using two unique experimental systems. Dynamic roll moment measurements and visualization data on the leading edge vortices were obtained using a free to roll apparatus that incorporates an airbearing spindle. In addition, both static and unsteady surface pressure data was measured on the top and bottom surfaces of the model. To obtain the unsteady surface pressure data a new computer controller drive system was developed to accurately reproduce the free to roll time history motions. The data from these experiments include, roll angle time histories, vortex trajectory data on the position of the vortices relative to the model's surface, and surface pressure measurements as a function of roll angle when the model is stationary or undergoing a wing rock motion. The roll time history data was numerically differentiated to determine the dynamic roll moment coefficient. An analysis of these data revealed that the primary mechanism for the limit cycle behavior was a time lag in the position of the vortices normal to the wing surface.

  15. Aqueous reactive species induced by a PCB surface micro-discharge air plasma device: a quantitative study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Chen; Li, Fanying; Chen, Hai-Lan; Kong, Michael G.

    2017-11-01

    This paper presents a quantitative investigation on aqueous reactive species induced by air plasma generated from a printed circuit board surface micro-discharge (SMD) device. Under the conditions amenable for proliferation of mammalian cells, concentrations of ten types of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) in phosphate buffering solution (PBS) are measured by chemical fluorescent assays and electron spin resonance spectroscopy (ESR). Results show that concentrations of several detected RNS (NO2- , NO3- , peroxynitrites, and NO2\\centerdot ) are higher than those of ROS (H2O2, O2\\centerdot - , and 1O2) in the air plasma treated solution. Concentrations of NO3- can reach 150 times of H2O2 with 60 s plasma treatment. For short-lived species, the air plasma generates more copious peroxynitrite than other RONS including NO2\\centerdot , O2\\centerdot - , 1O2, and N{{O}\\centerdot } in PBS. In addition, the existence of reaction between H2O2 and NO2- /HNO2 to produce peroxynitrite is verified by the chemical scavenger experiments. The reaction relations between detected RONS are also discussed.

  16. Reynolds number scalability of bristled wings performing clap and fling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jacob, Skyler; Kasoju, Vishwa; Santhanakrishnan, Arvind

    2017-11-01

    Tiny flying insects such as thrips show a distinctive physical adaptation in the use of bristled wings. Thrips use wing-wing interaction kinematics for flapping, in which a pair of wings clap together at the end of upstroke and fling apart at the beginning of downstroke. Previous studies have shown that the use of bristled wings can reduce the forces needed for clap and fling at Reynolds number (Re) on the order of 10. This study examines if the fluid dynamic advantages of using bristled wings also extend to higher Re on the order of 100. A robotic clap and fling platform was used for this study, in which a pair of physical wing models were programmed to execute clap and fling kinematics. Force measurements were conducted on solid (non-bristled) and bristled wing pairs. The results show lift and drag forces were both lower for bristled wings when compared to solid wings for Re ranging from 1-10, effectively increasing peak lift to peak drag ratio of bristled wings. However, peak lift to peak drag ratio was lower for bristled wings at Re =120 as compared to solid wings, suggesting that bristled wings may be uniquely advantageous for Re on the orders of 1-10. Flow structures visualized using particle image velocimetry (PIV) and their impact on force production will be presented.

  17. Wing rock suppression using forebody vortex control

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ng, T. T.; Ong, L. Y.; Suarez, C. J.; Malcolm, G. N.

    1991-01-01

    Static and free-to-roll tests were conducted in a water tunnel with a configuration that consisted of a highly-slender forebody and 78-deg sweep delta wings. Flow visualization was performed and the roll angle histories were obtained. The fluid mechanisms governing the wing rock of this configuration were identified. Different means of suppressing wing rock by controlling the forebody vortices using small blowing jets were also explored. Steady blowing was found to be capable of suppressing wing rock, but significant vortex asymmetries had to be induced at the same time. On the other hand, alternating pulsed blowing on the left and right sides of the forebody was demonstrated to be potentially an effective means of suppressing wing rock and eliminating large asymmetric moments at high angles of attack.

  18. Multispectral and DSLR sensors for assessing crop stress in corn and cotton using fixed-wing unmanned air systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Valasek, John; Henrickson, James V.; Bowden, Ezekiel; Shi, Yeyin; Morgan, Cristine L. S.; Neely, Haly L.

    2016-05-01

    As small unmanned aircraft systems become increasingly affordable, reliable, and formally recognized under federal regulation, they become increasingly attractive as novel platforms for civil applications. This paper details the development and demonstration of fixed-wing unmanned aircraft systems for precision agriculture tasks. Tasks such as soil moisture content and high throughput phenotyping are considered. Rationale for sensor, vehicle, and ground equipment selections are provided, in addition to developed flight operation procedures for minimal numbers of crew. Preliminary imagery results are presented and analyzed, and these results demonstrate that fixed-wing unmanned aircraft systems modified to carry non-traditional sensors at extended endurance durations can provide high quality data that is usable for serious scientific analysis.

  19. Nondestructive Evaluation (NDE) Technology Initiative Program (NTIP). Delivery Order 0032: MAUS Implementation for Corrosion/Crack Detection in Wing Structure - Phase III

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Palmer, Donald

    2003-01-01

    ... current inspection process currently used to support B-52 programmed depot maintenance. At the conclusion of this phase, one MAUS IV system located at Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center was upgraded with the "MAUS-Wing" enhancement package...

  20. Variable Geometry Aircraft Wing Supported by Struts And/Or Trusses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Melton, John E. (Inventor); Dudley, Michael R. (Inventor)

    2016-01-01

    The present invention provides an aircraft having variable airframe geometry for accommodating efficient flight. The aircraft includes an elongated fuselage, an oblique wing pivotally connected with said fuselage, a wing pivoting mechanism connected with said oblique wing and said fuselage, and a brace operably connected between said oblique wing and said fuselage. The present invention also provides an aircraft having an elongated fuselage, an oblique wing pivotally connected with said fuselage, a wing pivoting mechanism connected with said oblique wing and said fuselage, a propulsion system pivotally connected with said oblique wing, and a brace operably connected between said propulsion system and said fuselage.

  1. Conceptual Design Tool for Fuel-Cell Powered Micro Air Vehicles

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-03-01

    Electrolyte Membrane PEMFC PEM Fuel Cell RAM Rapid Aircraft Modeler R/C Radio Controlled RMFC Reformed Methanol Fuel Cell SBIR Small Business...of rechargeable batteries, the Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell ( PEMFC ) is only limited by the amount of hydrogen it can store, and can be...of fuel cells within MAVs through the creation of the Hornet. This slightly heavier, 380 g MAV integrated a 10 W PEMFC into the wing surface for a

  2. Waiting in the wings: what can we learn about gene co-option from the diversification of butterfly wing patterns?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiggins, Chris D; Wallbank, Richard W R; Hanly, Joseph J

    2017-02-05

    A major challenge is to understand how conserved gene regulatory networks control the wonderful diversity of form that we see among animals and plants. Butterfly wing patterns are an excellent example of this diversity. Butterfly wings form as imaginal discs in the caterpillar and are constructed by a gene regulatory network, much of which is conserved across the holometabolous insects. Recent work in Heliconius butterflies takes advantage of genomic approaches and offers insights into how the diversification of wing patterns is overlaid onto this conserved network. WntA is a patterning morphogen that alters spatial information in the wing. Optix is a transcription factor that acts later in development to paint specific wing regions red. Both of these loci fit the paradigm of conserved protein-coding loci with diverse regulatory elements and developmental roles that have taken on novel derived functions in patterning wings. These discoveries offer insights into the 'Nymphalid Ground Plan', which offers a unifying hypothesis for pattern formation across nymphalid butterflies. These loci also represent 'hotspots' for morphological change that have been targeted repeatedly during evolution. Both convergent and divergent evolution of a great diversity of patterns is controlled by complex alleles at just a few genes. We suggest that evolutionary change has become focused on one or a few genetic loci for two reasons. First, pre-existing complex cis-regulatory loci that already interact with potentially relevant transcription factors are more likely to acquire novel functions in wing patterning. Second, the shape of wing regulatory networks may constrain evolutionary change to one or a few loci. Overall, genomic approaches that have identified wing patterning loci in these butterflies offer broad insight into how gene regulatory networks evolve to produce diversity.This article is part of the themed issue 'Evo-devo in the genomics era, and the origins of morphological

  3. Logistics Supply of the Distributed Air Wing

    Science.gov (United States)

    2014-09-01

    Event Graph The Consumption Process first instantiates the variables . The model follows a conveyor belt pattern, whereby after processing an event...the following problem statement: Design a system of systems and the concept of operations to employ naval air assets in a range of missions to augment...airbases are designed to be set up within three days, utilizing highways as short runways for the Short Take Off Vertical Landing (STOVL) aircraft F

  4. Left-Wing Extremism: The Current Threat

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Karl A. Seger

    2001-04-30

    Left-wing extremism is ''alive and well'' both in the US and internationally. Although the current domestic terrorist threat within the U. S. is focused on right-wing extremists, left-wing extremists are also active and have several objectives. Leftist extremists also pose an espionage threat to U.S. interests. While the threat to the U.S. government from leftist extremists has decreased in the past decade, it has not disappeared. There are individuals and organizations within the U.S. who maintain the same ideology that resulted in the growth of left-wing terrorism in this country in the 1970s and 1980s. Some of the leaders from that era are still communicating from Cuba with their followers in the U.S., and new leaders and groups are emerging.

  5. Dynamics and control of robotic aircraft with articulated wings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paranjape, Aditya Avinash

    There is a considerable interest in developing robotic aircraft, inspired by birds, for a variety of missions covering reconnaissance and surveillance. Flapping wing aircraft concepts have been put forth in light of the efficiency of flapping flight at small scales. These aircraft are naturally equipped with the ability to rotate their wings about the root, a form of wing articulation. This thesis covers some problems concerning the performance, stability and control of robotic aircraft with articulated wings in gliding flight. Specifically, we are interested in aircraft without a vertical tail, which would then use wing articulation for longitudinal as well as lateral-directional control. Although the dynamics and control of articulated wing aircraft share several common features with conventional fixed wing aircraft, the presence of wing articulation presents several unique benefits as well as limitations from the perspective of performance and control. One of the objective of this thesis is to understand these features using a combination of theoretical and numerical tools. The aircraft concept envisioned in this thesis uses the wing dihedral angles for longitudinal and lateral-directional control. Aircraft with flexible articulated wings are also investigated. We derive a complete nonlinear model of the flight dynamics incorporating dynamic CG location and the changing moment of inertia. We show that symmetric dihedral configuration, along with a conventional horizontal tail, can be used to control flight speed and flight path angle independently of each other. This characteristic is very useful for initiating an efficient perching maneuver. It is shown that wing dihedral angles alone can effectively regulate sideslip during rapid turns and generate a wide range of equilibrium turn rates while maintaining a constant flight speed and regulating sideslip. We compute the turning performance limitations that arise due to the use of wing dihedral for yaw control

  6. Spanwise transition section for blended wing-body aircraft

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hawley, Arthur V. (Inventor)

    1999-01-01

    A blended wing-body aircraft includes a central body, a wing, and a transition section which interconnects the body and the wing on each side of the aircraft. The two transition sections are identical, and each has a variable chord length and thickness which varies in proportion to the chord length. This enables the transition section to connect the thin wing to the thicker body. Each transition section has a negative sweep angle.

  7. Relocation of the 146th Tactical Airlift Wing of the California Air National Guard

    Science.gov (United States)

    1985-02-01

    Oxnard. 3. Evaluation of cumulative impacts of’the entire Tactical Airlift Wing facility on all basic urban and community support services of the...on July 12. 196. Of these. effct of limiting the scope of the rile, farmland.- In order to guide the federal 1s were from federal agencies. 42 from the...market highways or roads: Since that act presumes that farm!’iw. electrical service ratemaking . Electric transmission lines: used for surface mining c€n

  8. Real-time in vivo imaging of butterfly wing development: revealing the cellular dynamics of the pupal wing tissue.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Masaki Iwata

    Full Text Available Butterfly wings are covered with regularly arranged single-colored scales that are formed at the pupal stage. Understanding pupal wing development is therefore crucial to understand wing color pattern formation. Here, we successfully employed real-time in vivo imaging techniques to observe pupal hindwing development over time in the blue pansy butterfly, Junonia orithya. A transparent sheet of epithelial cells that were not yet regularly arranged was observed immediately after pupation. Bright-field imaging and autofluorescent imaging revealed free-moving hemocytes and tracheal branches of a crinoid-like structure underneath the epithelium. The wing tissue gradually became gray-white, epithelial cells were arranged regularly, and hemocytes disappeared, except in the bordering lacuna, after which scales grew. The dynamics of the epithelial cells and scale growth were also confirmed by fluorescent imaging. Fluorescent in vivo staining further revealed that these cells harbored many mitochondria at the surface of the epithelium. Organizing centers for the border symmetry system were apparent immediately after pupation, exhibiting a relatively dark optical character following treatment with fluorescent dyes, as well as in autofluorescent images. The wing tissue exhibited slow and low-frequency contraction pulses with a cycle of approximately 10 to 20 minutes, mainly occurring at 2 to 3 days postpupation. The pulses gradually became slower and weaker and eventually stopped. The wing tissue area became larger after contraction, which also coincided with an increase in the autofluorescence intensity that might have been caused by scale growth. Examination of the pattern of color development revealed that the black pigment was first deposited in patches in the central areas of an eyespot black ring and a parafocal element. These results of live in vivo imaging that covered wide wing area for a long time can serve as a foundation for studying the

  9. Real-time in vivo imaging of butterfly wing development: revealing the cellular dynamics of the pupal wing tissue.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iwata, Masaki; Ohno, Yoshikazu; Otaki, Joji M

    2014-01-01

    Butterfly wings are covered with regularly arranged single-colored scales that are formed at the pupal stage. Understanding pupal wing development is therefore crucial to understand wing color pattern formation. Here, we successfully employed real-time in vivo imaging techniques to observe pupal hindwing development over time in the blue pansy butterfly, Junonia orithya. A transparent sheet of epithelial cells that were not yet regularly arranged was observed immediately after pupation. Bright-field imaging and autofluorescent imaging revealed free-moving hemocytes and tracheal branches of a crinoid-like structure underneath the epithelium. The wing tissue gradually became gray-white, epithelial cells were arranged regularly, and hemocytes disappeared, except in the bordering lacuna, after which scales grew. The dynamics of the epithelial cells and scale growth were also confirmed by fluorescent imaging. Fluorescent in vivo staining further revealed that these cells harbored many mitochondria at the surface of the epithelium. Organizing centers for the border symmetry system were apparent immediately after pupation, exhibiting a relatively dark optical character following treatment with fluorescent dyes, as well as in autofluorescent images. The wing tissue exhibited slow and low-frequency contraction pulses with a cycle of approximately 10 to 20 minutes, mainly occurring at 2 to 3 days postpupation. The pulses gradually became slower and weaker and eventually stopped. The wing tissue area became larger after contraction, which also coincided with an increase in the autofluorescence intensity that might have been caused by scale growth. Examination of the pattern of color development revealed that the black pigment was first deposited in patches in the central areas of an eyespot black ring and a parafocal element. These results of live in vivo imaging that covered wide wing area for a long time can serve as a foundation for studying the cellular dynamics of living

  10. Multidimensional analysis of Drosophila wing variation in Evolution ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    2008-12-23

    Dec 23, 2008 ... the different components of phenotypic variation of a complex trait: the wing. ... of Drosophila wing variation in. Evolution Canyon. J. Genet. 87, 407–419]. Introduction ..... identify the effect of slope on wing shape (figure 2,c). All.

  11. Demonstration of an in situ morphing hyperelliptical cambered span wing mechanism

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Manzo, Justin; Garcia, Ephrahim

    2010-01-01

    Research on efficient shore bird morphology inspired the hyperelliptical cambered span (HECS) wing, a crescent-shaped, aft-swept wing with vertically oriented wingtips. The wing reduces vorticity-induced circulation loss and outperforms an elliptical baseline when planar. Designed initially as a rigid wing, the HECS wing makes use of morphing to transition from a planar to a furled configuration, similar to that of a continuously curved winglet, in flight. A morphing wing concept mechanism is presented, employing shape memory alloy actuators to create a discretized curvature approximation. The aerodynamics for continuous wing shapes is validated quasi-statically through wind tunnel testing, showing enhanced planar HECS wing lift-to-drag performance over an elliptical wing, with the furled HECS wing showing minimal enhancements beyond this point. Wind tunnel tests of the active morphing wing prove the mechanism capable of overcoming realistic loading, while further testing may be required to establish aerodynamic merits of the HECS wing morphing maneuver

  12. Shock/shock interactions between bodies and wings

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gaoxiang XIANG

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available This paper examines the Shock/Shock Interactions (SSI between the body and wing of aircraft in supersonic flows. The body is simplified to a flat wedge and the wing is assumed to be a sharp wing. The theoretical spatial dimension reduction method, which transforms the 3D problem into a 2D one, is used to analyze the SSI between the body and wing. The temperature and pressure behind the Mach stem induced by the wing and body are obtained, and the wave configurations in the corner are determined. Numerical validations are conducted by solving the inviscid Euler equations in 3D with a Non-oscillatory and Non-free-parameters Dissipative (NND finite difference scheme. Good agreements between the theoretical and numerical results are obtained. Additionally, the effects of the wedge angle and sweep angle on wave configurations and flow field are considered numerically and theoretically. The influences of wedge angle are significant, whereas the effects of sweep angle on wave configurations are negligible. This paper provides useful information for the design and thermal protection of aircraft in supersonic and hypersonic flows. Keywords: Body and wing, Flow field, Hypersonic flow, Shock/shock interaction, Wave configurations

  13. 76 FR 75453 - Restricted Areas and Danger Zones at Eglin Air Force Base, FL

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-12-02

    ... and Danger Zones at Eglin Air Force Base, FL AGENCY: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Department of... within the Eglin Air Force Base (AFB) facilities and along the Eglin AFB facility shoreline in Florida... have the permission of the Commander, 96 Air Base Wing, Eglin AFB or his/her authorized representative...

  14. Colors and pterin pigmentation of pierid butterfly wings

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wijnen, B.; Leertouwer, H. L.; Stavenga, D. G.

    2007-01-01

    The reflectance of pierid butterfly wings is principally determined by the incoherent scattering of incident light and the absorption by pterin pigments in the scale structures. Coherent scattering causing iridescence is frequently encountered in the dorsal wings or wing tips of male pierids. We

  15. Unsteady Aerodynamics of Flapping Wing of a Bird

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Agoes Moelyadi

    2013-04-01

    Full Text Available The unsteady flow behavior and time-dependent aerodynamic characteristics of the flapping motion of a bird’s wing were investigated using a computational method. During flapping, aerodynamic interactions between bird wing surfaces and surrounding flow may occur, generating local time-dependent flow changes in the flow field and aerodynamic load of birds. To study the effect of flapping speed on unsteady aerodynamic load, two kinds of computational simulations were carried out, namely a quasi-steady and an unsteady simulation. To mimic the movement of the down-stroke and the upstroke of a bird, the flapping path accorded to a sinus function, with the wing attitude changing in dihedral angle and time. The computations of time-dependent viscous flow were based on the solution of the Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes equations by applying the k-e turbulence model. In addition, the discretization for the computational domain around the model used multi-block structured grid to provide more accuracy in capturing viscous flow, especially in the vicinity of the wing and body surfaces, to obtain a proper wing-body geometry model. For this research, the seagull bird was chosen, which has high aspect ratio wings with pointed wing-tips and a high camber wing section. The results include mesh movement, velocity contours as well as aerodynamic coefficients of the flapping motion of the bird at various flapping frequencies.

  16. Generic Wing-Body Aerodynamics Data Base

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holst, Terry L.; Olsen, Thomas H.; Kwak, Dochan (Technical Monitor)

    2001-01-01

    The wing-body aerodynamics data base consists of a series of CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) simulations about a generic wing body configuration consisting of a ogive-circular-cylinder fuselage and a simple symmetric wing mid-mounted on the fuselage. Solutions have been obtained for Nonlinear Potential (P), Euler (E) and Navier-Stokes (N) solvers over a range of subsonic and transonic Mach numbers and angles of attack. In addition, each solution has been computed on a series of grids, coarse, medium and fine to permit an assessment of grid refinement errors.

  17. Design and fabrication of composite wing panels containing a production splice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reed, D. L.

    1975-01-01

    Bolted specimens representative of both upper and lower wing surface splices of a transport aircraft were designed and manufactured for static and random load tension and compression fatigue testing including ground-air-ground load reversals. The specimens were fabricated with graphite-epoxy composite material. Multiple tests were conducted at various load levels and the results were used as input to a statistical wearout model. The statically designed specimens performed very well under highly magnified fatigue loadings. Two large panels, one tension and compression, were fabricated for testing by NASA-LRC.

  18. Butterfly wing colors : glass scales of Graphium sarpedon cause polarized iridescence and enhance blue/green pigment coloration of the wing membrane

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Stavenga, Doekele G.; Giraldo, Marco A.; Leertouwer, Hein L.

    2010-01-01

    The wings of the swordtail butterfly Graphium sarpedon nipponum contain the bile pigment sarpedobilin, which causes blue/green colored wing patches. Locally the bile pigment is combined with the strongly blue-absorbing carotenoid lutein, resulting in green wing patches and thus improving camouflage.

  19. Assessing genotoxicity of diuron on Drosophila melanogaster by the wing-spot test and the wing imaginal disk comet assay.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peraza-Vega, Ricardo I; Castañeda-Sortibrán, América N; Valverde, Mahara; Rojas, Emilio; Rodríguez-Arnaiz, Rosario

    2017-05-01

    The aim of this study was to evaluate the genotoxicity of the herbicide diuron in the wing-spot test and a novel wing imaginal disk comet assay in Drosophila melanogaster. The wing-spot test was performed with standard (ST) and high-bioactivation (HB) crosses after providing chronic 48 h treatment to third instar larvae. A positive dose-response effect was observed in both crosses, but statistically reduced spot frequencies were registered for the HB cross compared with the ST. This latter finding suggests that metabolism differences play an important role in the genotoxic effect of diuron. To verify diuron's ability to produce DNA damage, a wing imaginal disk comet assay was performed after providing 24 h diuron treatment to ST and HB third instar larvae. DNA damage induced by the herbicide had a significantly positive dose-response effect even at very low concentrations in both strains. However, as noted for the wing-spot test, a significant difference between strains was not observed that could be related to the duration of exposure between both assays. A positive correlation between the comet assay and the wing-spot test was found with regard to diuron genotoxicity.

  20. Multiple cues for winged morph production in an aphid metacommunity.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohsen Mehrparvar

    Full Text Available Environmental factors can lead individuals down different developmental pathways giving rise to distinct phenotypes (phenotypic plasticity. The production of winged or unwinged morphs in aphids is an example of two alternative developmental pathways. Dispersal is paramount in aphids that often have a metapopulation structure, where local subpopulations frequently go extinct, such as the specialized aphids on tansy (Tanacetum vulgare. We conducted various experiments to further understand the cues involved in the production of winged dispersal morphs by the two dominant species of the tansy aphid metacommunity, Metopeurum fuscoviride and Macrosiphoniella tanacetaria. We found that the ant-tended M. fuscoviride produced winged individuals predominantly at the beginning of the season while the untended M. tanacetaria produced winged individuals throughout the season. Winged mothers of both species produced winged offspring, although in both species winged offspring were mainly produced by unwinged females. Crowding and the presence of predators, effects already known to influence wing production in other aphid species, increased the percentage of winged offspring in M. tanacetaria, but not in M. fuscoviride. We find there are also other factors (i.e. temporal effects inducing the production of winged offspring for natural aphid populations. Our results show that the responses of each aphid species are due to multiple wing induction cues.

  1. A Tribute to Professor Rene H. Miller - A Pioneer in Aeromechanics and Rotary Wing Flight Transportation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Friedmann, Peretz P.; Johnson, Wayne; Scully, Michael P.

    2011-01-01

    Rene H. Miller (May 19, 1916 January 28, 2003), Emeritus H. N. Slater Professor of Flight Transportation, was one of the most influential pioneers in rotary wing aeromechanics as well as a visionary whose dream was the development of a tilt-rotor based short haul air transportation system. This paper pays a long overdue tribute to his memory and to his extraordinary contributions.

  2. A flight investigation of oscillating air forces: Equipment and technique

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reed, W. H., III

    1975-01-01

    The equipment and techniques are described which are to be used in a project aimed at measuring oscillating air forces and dynamic aeroelastic response of a swept wing airplane at high subsonic speeds. Electro-hydraulic inertia type shakers installed in the wing tips will excite various elastic airplane modes while the related oscillating chordwise pressures at two spanwise wing stations and the wing mode shapes are recorded on magnetic tape. The data reduction technique, following the principle of a wattmeter harmonic analyzer employed by Bratt, Wight, and Tilly, utilizes magnetic tape and high speed electronic multipliers to record directly the real and imaginary components of oscillatory data signals relative to a simple harmonic reference signal. Through an extension of this technique an automatic flight-flutter-test data analyzer is suggested in which vector plots of mechanical admittance or impedance would be plotted during the flight test.

  3. Air annealing induced transformation of cubic CdSe microspheres into hexagonal nanorods and micro-pyramids

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kale, Rohidas B., E-mail: rb_kale@yahoo.co.in [Department of Physics, Institute of Science, Mumbai 400032, M.S. (India); Lu, Shih-Yuan, E-mail: sylu@mx.nthu.edu.tw [Department of Chemical Engineering, National Tsing-Hua University, Hsin-Chu 30013, Taiwan (China)

    2015-08-15

    Highlights: • Nanocrystalline CdSe thin films were deposited using inexpensive CBD method. • Air annealing induced structural and interesting morphological transformation. • The as-deposited CdSe thin films showed a blue shift in its optical spectra. • The films showed a red shift in their optical spectra after annealing. - Abstract: CdSe thin films have been deposited onto glass substrates using a chemical bath deposition method at relatively low temperatures (40 °C). The precursors used for the deposition of the thin films are cadmium nitrate hexahydrate, freshly prepared sodium selenosulfate solution and aqueous ammonia solution as a complex as well as pH adjusting reagent. In order to study the influence of air annealing on their physicochemical properties, the as-deposited CdSe thin films were further annealed at 200 °C and 400 °C for 3 h in air atmosphere. Significant changes in the morphology and photonic properties were clearly observed after the thermal annealing of the CdSe thin films. The as-deposited CdSe films grow with the cubic phase that transforms into mixed cubic and hexagonal wurtzite phase with improved crystalline quality of the films after the air annealing. Morphological observation reveals that the as-deposited thin films grow with multilayer that consists of network or mesh like structure, uniformly deposited on the glass substrate over which microspheres are uniformly distributed. After air annealing, CdSe nanorods emerged from the microspheres along with conversion of few microspheres into micro-pyramids. The UV–visible study illustrates that the as-deposited thin film shows blue shifts in its optical spectrum and the spectrum was red-shifted after annealing the CdSe thin films. The band gap of the CdSe thin films were found to be decreased after the thermal treatment.

  4. Application of slender wing benefits to military aircraft

    Science.gov (United States)

    Polhamus, E. C.

    1983-01-01

    A review is provided of aerodynamic research conducted at the Langley Research Center with respect to the application of slender wing benefits in the design of high-speed military aircraft, taking into account the supersonic performance and leading-edge vortex flow associated with very highly sweptback wings. The beginning of the development of modern classical swept wing jet aircraft is related to the German Me 262 project during World War II. In the U.S., a theoretical study conducted by Jones (1945) pointed out the advantages of the sweptback wing concept. Developments with respect to variable sweep wings are discussed, taking into account early research in 1946, a joint program of the U.S. with the United Kingdom, the tactical aircraft concept, and the important part which the Langley variable-sweep research program played in the development of the F-111, F-14, and B-1. Attention is also given to hybrid wings, vortex flow theory development, and examples of flow design technology.

  5. A Model for Selection of Eyespots on Butterfly Wings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sekimura, Toshio; Venkataraman, Chandrasekhar; Madzvamuse, Anotida

    2015-01-01

    The development of eyespots on the wing surface of butterflies of the family Nympalidae is one of the most studied examples of biological pattern formation.However, little is known about the mechanism that determines the number and precise locations of eyespots on the wing. Eyespots develop around signaling centers, called foci, that are located equidistant from wing veins along the midline of a wing cell (an area bounded by veins). A fundamental question that remains unsolved is, why a certain wing cell develops an eyespot, while other wing cells do not. We illustrate that the key to understanding focus point selection may be in the venation system of the wing disc. Our main hypothesis is that changes in morphogen concentration along the proximal boundary veins of wing cells govern focus point selection. Based on previous studies, we focus on a spatially two-dimensional reaction-diffusion system model posed in the interior of each wing cell that describes the formation of focus points. Using finite element based numerical simulations, we demonstrate that variation in the proximal boundary condition is sufficient to robustly select whether an eyespot focus point forms in otherwise identical wing cells. We also illustrate that this behavior is robust to small perturbations in the parameters and geometry and moderate levels of noise. Hence, we suggest that an anterior-posterior pattern of morphogen concentration along the proximal vein may be the main determinant of the distribution of focus points on the wing surface. In order to complete our model, we propose a two stage reaction-diffusion system model, in which an one-dimensional surface reaction-diffusion system, posed on the proximal vein, generates the morphogen concentrations that act as non-homogeneous Dirichlet (i.e., fixed) boundary conditions for the two-dimensional reaction-diffusion model posed in the wing cells. The two-stage model appears capable of generating focus point distributions observed in

  6. A Model for Selection of Eyespots on Butterfly Wings.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Toshio Sekimura

    Full Text Available The development of eyespots on the wing surface of butterflies of the family Nympalidae is one of the most studied examples of biological pattern formation.However, little is known about the mechanism that determines the number and precise locations of eyespots on the wing. Eyespots develop around signaling centers, called foci, that are located equidistant from wing veins along the midline of a wing cell (an area bounded by veins. A fundamental question that remains unsolved is, why a certain wing cell develops an eyespot, while other wing cells do not.We illustrate that the key to understanding focus point selection may be in the venation system of the wing disc. Our main hypothesis is that changes in morphogen concentration along the proximal boundary veins of wing cells govern focus point selection. Based on previous studies, we focus on a spatially two-dimensional reaction-diffusion system model posed in the interior of each wing cell that describes the formation of focus points. Using finite element based numerical simulations, we demonstrate that variation in the proximal boundary condition is sufficient to robustly select whether an eyespot focus point forms in otherwise identical wing cells. We also illustrate that this behavior is robust to small perturbations in the parameters and geometry and moderate levels of noise. Hence, we suggest that an anterior-posterior pattern of morphogen concentration along the proximal vein may be the main determinant of the distribution of focus points on the wing surface. In order to complete our model, we propose a two stage reaction-diffusion system model, in which an one-dimensional surface reaction-diffusion system, posed on the proximal vein, generates the morphogen concentrations that act as non-homogeneous Dirichlet (i.e., fixed boundary conditions for the two-dimensional reaction-diffusion model posed in the wing cells. The two-stage model appears capable of generating focus point distributions

  7. Energy-Based Design of Reconfigurable Micro Air Vehicle (MAV) Flight Structures

    Science.gov (United States)

    2014-02-01

    configuration, “tucks” its wings into a dive configuration, and then flares them back out both to quickly ascend and to collect momentum -reducing...element configurations is the classic Euler- Bernoulli beam element. Line elements can take on various configurations depending on the values of...classic Euler- Bernoulli beam elements that exhibit both axial and bending stiffness. • Truss elements are classic elements that exhibit only axial

  8. Spectral reflectance properties of iridescent pierid butterfly wings

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wilts, Bodo D.; Pirih, Primoz; Stavenga, Doekele G.; Pirih, Primož

    The wings of most pierid butterflies exhibit a main, pigmentary colouration: white, yellow or orange. The males of many species have in restricted areas of the wing upper sides a distinct structural colouration, which is created by stacks of lamellae in the ridges of the wing scales, resulting in

  9. COMPARISON OF A FIXED-WING AND MULTI-ROTOR UAV FOR ENVIRONMENTAL MAPPING APPLICATIONS: A CASE STUDY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. A. Boon

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available The advent and evolution of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs and photogrammetric techniques has provided the possibility for on-demand high-resolution environmental mapping. Orthoimages and three dimensional products such as Digital Surface Models (DSMs are derived from the UAV imagery which is amongst the most important spatial information tools for environmental planning. The two main types of UAVs in the commercial market are fixed-wing and multi-rotor. Both have their advantages and disadvantages including their suitability for certain applications. Fixed-wing UAVs normally have longer flight endurance capabilities while multi-rotors can provide for stable image capturing and easy vertical take-off and landing. Therefore, the objective of this study is to assess the performance of a fixed-wing versus a multi-rotor UAV for environmental mapping applications by conducting a specific case study. The aerial mapping of the Cors-Air model aircraft field which includes a wetland ecosystem was undertaken on the same day with a Skywalker fixed-wing UAV and a Raven X8 multi-rotor UAV equipped with similar sensor specifications (digital RGB camera under the same weather conditions. We compared the derived datasets by applying the DTMs for basic environmental mapping purposes such as slope and contour mapping including utilising the orthoimages for identification of anthropogenic disturbances. The ground spatial resolution obtained was slightly higher for the multi-rotor probably due to a slower flight speed and more images. The results in terms of the overall precision of the data was noticeably less accurate for the fixed-wing. In contrast, orthoimages derived from the two systems showed small variations. The multi-rotor imagery provided better representation of vegetation although the fixed-wing data was sufficient for the identification of environmental factors such as anthropogenic disturbances. Differences were observed utilising the respective DTMs

  10. Comparison of a Fixed-Wing and Multi-Rotor Uav for Environmental Mapping Applications: a Case Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boon, M. A.; Drijfhout, A. P.; Tesfamichael, S.

    2017-08-01

    The advent and evolution of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and photogrammetric techniques has provided the possibility for on-demand high-resolution environmental mapping. Orthoimages and three dimensional products such as Digital Surface Models (DSMs) are derived from the UAV imagery which is amongst the most important spatial information tools for environmental planning. The two main types of UAVs in the commercial market are fixed-wing and multi-rotor. Both have their advantages and disadvantages including their suitability for certain applications. Fixed-wing UAVs normally have longer flight endurance capabilities while multi-rotors can provide for stable image capturing and easy vertical take-off and landing. Therefore, the objective of this study is to assess the performance of a fixed-wing versus a multi-rotor UAV for environmental mapping applications by conducting a specific case study. The aerial mapping of the Cors-Air model aircraft field which includes a wetland ecosystem was undertaken on the same day with a Skywalker fixed-wing UAV and a Raven X8 multi-rotor UAV equipped with similar sensor specifications (digital RGB camera) under the same weather conditions. We compared the derived datasets by applying the DTMs for basic environmental mapping purposes such as slope and contour mapping including utilising the orthoimages for identification of anthropogenic disturbances. The ground spatial resolution obtained was slightly higher for the multi-rotor probably due to a slower flight speed and more images. The results in terms of the overall precision of the data was noticeably less accurate for the fixed-wing. In contrast, orthoimages derived from the two systems showed small variations. The multi-rotor imagery provided better representation of vegetation although the fixed-wing data was sufficient for the identification of environmental factors such as anthropogenic disturbances. Differences were observed utilising the respective DTMs for the mapping

  11. The biomechanical origin of extreme wing allometry in hummingbirds.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Skandalis, Dimitri A; Segre, Paolo S; Bahlman, Joseph W; Groom, Derrick J E; Welch, Kenneth C; Witt, Christopher C; McGuire, Jimmy A; Dudley, Robert; Lentink, David; Altshuler, Douglas L

    2017-10-19

    Flying animals of different masses vary widely in body proportions, but the functional implications of this variation are often unclear. We address this ambiguity by developing an integrative allometric approach, which we apply here to hummingbirds to examine how the physical environment, wing morphology and stroke kinematics have contributed to the evolution of their highly specialised flight. Surprisingly, hummingbirds maintain constant wing velocity despite an order of magnitude variation in body weight; increased weight is supported solely through disproportionate increases in wing area. Conversely, wing velocity increases with body weight within species, compensating for lower relative wing area in larger individuals. By comparing inter- and intraspecific allometries, we find that the extreme wing area allometry of hummingbirds is likely an adaptation to maintain constant burst flight capacity and induced power requirements with increasing weight. Selection for relatively large wings simultaneously maximises aerial performance and minimises flight costs, which are essential elements of humming bird life history.

  12. Achieving bioinspired flapping wing hovering flight solutions on Mars via wing scaling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bluman, James E; Pohly, Jeremy; Sridhar, Madhu; Kang, Chang-Kwon; Landrum, David Brian; Fahimi, Farbod; Aono, Hikaru

    2018-05-29

    Achieving atmospheric flight on Mars is challenging due to the low density of the Martian atmosphere. Aerodynamic forces are proportional to the atmospheric density, which limits the use of conventional aircraft designs on Mars. Here, we show using numerical simulations that a flapping wing robot can fly on Mars via bioinspired dynamic scaling. Trimmed, hovering flight is possible in a simulated Martian environment when dynamic similarity with insects on earth is achieved by preserving the relevant dimensionless parameters while scaling up the wings three to four times its normal size. The analysis is performed using a well-validated two-dimensional Navier-Stokes equation solver, coupled to a three-dimensional flight dynamics model to simulate free flight. The majority of power required is due to the inertia of the wing because of the ultra-low density. The inertial flap power can be substantially reduced through the use of a torsional spring. The minimum total power consumption is 188 W/kg when the torsional spring is driven at its natural frequency. © 2018 IOP Publishing Ltd.

  13. Aeroelasticity of morphing wings using neural networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Natarajan, Anand

    In this dissertation, neural networks are designed to effectively model static non-linear aeroelastic problems in adaptive structures and linear dynamic aeroelastic systems with time varying stiffness. The use of adaptive materials in aircraft wings allows for the change of the contour or the configuration of a wing (morphing) in flight. The use of smart materials, to accomplish these deformations, can imply that the stiffness of the wing with a morphing contour changes as the contour changes. For a rapidly oscillating body in a fluid field, continuously adapting structural parameters may render the wing to behave as a time variant system. Even the internal spars/ribs of the aircraft wing which define the wing stiffness can be made adaptive, that is, their stiffness can be made to vary with time. The immediate effect on the structural dynamics of the wing, is that, the wing motion is governed by a differential equation with time varying coefficients. The study of this concept of a time varying torsional stiffness, made possible by the use of active materials and adaptive spars, in the dynamic aeroelastic behavior of an adaptable airfoil is performed here. Another type of aeroelastic problem of an adaptive structure that is investigated here, is the shape control of an adaptive bump situated on the leading edge of an airfoil. Such a bump is useful in achieving flow separation control for lateral directional maneuverability of the aircraft. Since actuators are being used to create this bump on the wing surface, the energy required to do so needs to be minimized. The adverse pressure drag as a result of this bump needs to be controlled so that the loss in lift over the wing is made minimal. The design of such a "spoiler bump" on the surface of the airfoil is an optimization problem of maximizing pressure drag due to flow separation while minimizing the loss in lift and energy required to deform the bump. One neural network is trained using the CFD code FLUENT to

  14. Nonlinear Dynamics of Wind Turbine Wings

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Larsen, Jesper Winther

    , large wind turbines become increasingly flexible and dynamically sensitive. This project focuses on the structural analysis of highly flexible wind turbine wings, and the aerodynamic loading of wind turbine wings under large changes in flow field due to elastic deformations and changing wind conditions....

  15. Problem of Vortex Turbulence behind Wings (II),

    Science.gov (United States)

    1980-09-23

    these winglets would give a resultant aerodynamic force directed towards the front which would decrease the wing drag. Such winglets will affect the...Fig. 30 Whitcomb winglets Pig. 31 Set of winglets for wake dissipation Surfaces on wing tips, winglets (Fig. 30), proposed by Whitcomb to diminish...anyway - to decrease the induced drag of the wing by putting some winglets at a certain angle in different planes, as shown in Fig. 31. The total

  16. Folding in and out: passive morphing in flapping wings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stowers, Amanda K; Lentink, David

    2015-03-25

    We present a new mechanism for passive wing morphing of flapping wings inspired by bat and bird wing morphology. The mechanism consists of an unactuated hand wing connected to the arm wing with a wrist joint. Flapping motion generates centrifugal accelerations in the hand wing, forcing it to unfold passively. Using a robotic model in hover, we made kinematic measurements of unfolding kinematics as functions of the non-dimensional wingspan fold ratio (2-2.5) and flapping frequency (5-17 Hz) using stereo high-speed cameras. We find that the wings unfold passively within one to two flaps and remain unfolded with only small amplitude oscillations. To better understand the passive dynamics, we constructed a computer model of the unfolding process based on rigid body dynamics, contact models, and aerodynamic correlations. This model predicts the measured passive unfolding within about one flap and shows that unfolding is driven by centrifugal acceleration induced by flapping. The simulations also predict that relative unfolding time only weakly depends on flapping frequency and can be reduced to less than half a wingbeat by increasing flapping amplitude. Subsequent dimensional analysis shows that the time required to unfold passively is of the same order of magnitude as the flapping period. This suggests that centrifugal acceleration can drive passive unfolding within approximately one wingbeat in small and large wings. Finally, we show experimentally that passive unfolding wings can withstand impact with a branch, by first folding and then unfolding passively. This mechanism enables flapping robots to squeeze through clutter without sophisticated control. Passive unfolding also provides a new avenue in morphing wing design that makes future flapping morphing wings possibly more energy efficient and light-weight. Simultaneously these results point to possible inertia driven, and therefore metabolically efficient, control strategies in bats and birds to morph or recover

  17. Removal of organic pollutants from 2,2',5,5'-tetrachlorobenzidine (TCB) industrial wastewater by micro-electrochemical oxidation and air-stripping

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xia Shibin; Xia Shuichun; Zhu Changqing

    2007-01-01

    A feasible method for treatment of the wastewater from the two-staged neutralization in 2,2',5,5'-tetrachlorobenzidine (TCB) manufacturing processes, a refractory dye intermediate effluents, based on combined micro-electrochemical oxidation or iron-chipping filtration (ICF) and air-stripping reactor (ASR), was developed. On conditions of HRT 1 h, pH 3.0 in ICF and HRT 38 h, gas-liquid ratio 15, pH 6.0-8.65, temperature 26 deg. C in ASR, the overall COD, color, TCB and NH 4 + -N removal were 96.8%, 91%, 87.61% and 62%, respectively, during the treatment of TCB wastewater from the two-staged neutralization dissolved by methanol. The averaged 18.3%, 81.7% of the total degraded COD, 35.2%, 64.8% of TCB were carried out in ICF and ASR, respectively. NH 4 + -N removal was finished mainly in ASR. The experimental results indicated that the combined micro-electrochemical oxidation and air-stripping process performed good treatment of COD, color, TCB and NH 4 + -N removal in TCB wastewater from the two-staged neutralization dissolved by ethanol or acetone, came up the discharge standard in China. But the TCB wastewater from the two-staged neutralization dissolved by methanol should be deeply treated before discharged

  18. Aerodynamic performance and particle image velocimetery of piezo actuated biomimetic manduca sexta engineered wings towards the design and application of a flapping wing flight vehicle

    Science.gov (United States)

    DeLuca, Anthony M.

    Considerable research and investigation has been conducted on the aerodynamic performance, and the predominate flow physics of the Manduca Sexta size of biomimetically designed and fabricated wings as part of the AFIT FWMAV design project. Despite a burgeoning interest and research into the diverse field of flapping wing flight and biomimicry, the aerodynamics of flapping wing flight remains a nebulous field of science with considerable variance into the theoretical abstractions surrounding aerodynamic mechanisms responsible for aerial performance. Traditional FWMAV flight models assume a form of a quasi-steady approximation of wing aerodynamics based on an infinite wing blade element model (BEM). An accurate estimation of the lift, drag, and side force coefficients is a critical component of autonomous stability and control models. This research focused on two separate experimental avenues into the aerodynamics of AFIT's engineered hawkmoth wings|forces and flow visualization. 1. Six degree of freedom force balance testing, and high speed video analysis was conducted on 30°, 45°, and 60° angle stop wings. A novel, non-intrusive optical tracking algorithm was developed utilizing a combination of a Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) and ComputerVision (OpenCV) tools to track the wing in motion from multiple cameras. A complete mapping of the wing's kinematic angles as a function of driving amplitude was performed. The stroke angle, elevation angle, and angle of attack were tabulated for all three wings at driving amplitudes ranging from A=0.3 to A=0.6. The wing kinematics together with the force balance data was used to develop several aerodynamic force coefficient models. A combined translational and rotational aerodynamic model predicted lift forces within 10%, and vertical forces within 6%. The total power consumption was calculated for each of the three wings, and a Figure of Merit was calculated for each wing as a general expression of the overall efficiency of

  19. Air Force Officer Qualifying Test Form T: Initial Item-, Test-, Factor-, and Composite-Level Analyses

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-12-01

    used to qualify applicants for ROTC and OTS officer commissioning programs. The Pilot, Combat Systems Officer (CSO), and Air Battle Manager ( ABM ...AIR FORCE RESEARCH LABORATORY 711 HUMAN PERFORMANCE WING, AIRMAN SYSTEMS DIRECTORATE, WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, OH 45433 AIR FORCE MATERIEL...Warfighter Interface Division Airman Systems Directorate This report is published in the interest of scientific and technical information exchange, and

  20. Flight Control of Biomimetic Air Vehicles Using Vibrational Control and Averaging

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tahmasian, Sevak; Woolsey, Craig A.

    2017-08-01

    A combination of vibrational inputs and state feedback is applied to control the flight of a biomimetic air vehicle. First, a control strategy is developed for longitudinal flight, using a quasi-steady aerodynamic model and neglecting wing inertial effects. Vertical and forward motion is controlled by modulating the wings' stroke and feather angles, respectively. Stabilizing control parameter values are determined using the time-averaged dynamic model. Simulations of a system resembling a hawkmoth show that the proposed controller can overcome modeling error associated with the wing inertia and small parameter uncertainties when following a prescribed trajectory. After introducing the approach through an application to longitudinal flight, the control strategy is extended to address flight in three-dimensional space.

  1. Quantitative-genetic analysis of wing form and bilateral asymmetry ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Unknown

    lines; Procrustes analysis; wing shape; wing size. ... Models of stochastic gene expression pre- dict that intrinsic noise ... Quantitative parameters of wing size and shape asymmetries ..... the residuals of a regression on centroid size produced.

  2. Optimization of composite tiltrotor wings with extensions and winglets

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kambampati, Sandilya

    Tiltrotors suffer from an aeroelastic instability during forward flight called whirl flutter. Whirl flutter is caused by the whirling motion of the rotor, characterized by highly coupled wing-rotor-pylon modes of vibration. Whirl flutter is a major obstacle for tiltrotors in achieving high-speed flight. The conventional approach to assure adequate whirl flutter stability margins for tiltrotors is to design the wings with high torsional stiffness, typically using 23% thickness-to-chord ratio wings. However, the large aerodynamic drag associated with these high thickness-to-chord ratio wings decreases aerodynamic efficiency and increases fuel consumption. Wingtip devices such as wing extensions and winglets have the potential to increase the whirl flutter characteristics and the aerodynamic efficiency of a tiltrotor. However, wing-tip devices can add more weight to the aircraft. In this study, multi-objective parametric and optimization methodologies for tiltrotor aircraft with wing extensions and winglets are investigated. The objectives are to maximize aircraft aerodynamic efficiency while minimizing weight penalty due to extensions and winglets, subject to whirl flutter constraints. An aeroelastic model that predicts the whirl flutter speed and a wing structural model that computes strength and weight of a composite wing are developed. An existing aerodynamic model (that predicts the aerodynamic efficiency) is merged with the developed structural and aeroelastic models for the purpose of conducting parametric and optimization studies. The variables of interest are the wing thickness and structural properties, and extension and winglet planform variables. The Bell XV-15 tiltrotor aircraft the chosen as the parent aircraft for this study. Parametric studies reveal that a wing extension of span 25% of the inboard wing increases the whirl flutter speed by 10% and also increases the aircraft aerodynamic efficiency by 8%. Structurally tapering the wing of a tiltrotor

  3. Home of the 151st Air Refueling Wing

    Science.gov (United States)

    History HRA Alley Public Affairs SAPR Units Contact Us Search 151st ARW: 151st ARW The Roland R. Wright woman in the profession of arms President Trump visits Roland R. Wright Air National Guard Base 151st Commentaries Women's History Month: looking around as important as looking back Veterans Day: Pay tribute with

  4. Parametric structural modeling of insect wings

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mengesha, T E; Vallance, R R; Barraja, M; Mittal, R

    2009-01-01

    Insects produce thrust and lift forces via coupled fluid-structure interactions that bend and twist their compliant wings during flapping cycles. Insight into this fluid-structure interaction is achieved with numerical modeling techniques such as coupled finite element analysis and computational fluid dynamics, but these methods require accurate and validated structural models of insect wings. Structural models of insect wings depend principally on the shape, dimensions and material properties of the veins and membrane cells. This paper describes a method for parametric modeling of wing geometry using digital images and demonstrates the use of the geometric models in constructing three-dimensional finite element (FE) models and simple reduced-order models. The FE models are more complete and accurate than previously reported models since they accurately represent the topology of the vein network, as well as the shape and dimensions of the veins and membrane cells. The methods are demonstrated by developing a parametric structural model of a cicada forewing.

  5. Age-class separation of blue-winged ducks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hohman, W.L.; Moore, J.L.; Twedt, D.J.; Mensik, John G.; Logerwell, E.

    1995-01-01

    Accurate determination of age is of fundamental importance to population and life history studies of waterfowl and their management. Therefore, we developed quantitative methods that separate adult and immature blue-winged teal (Anas discors), cinnamon teal (A. cyanoptera), and northern shovelers (A. clypeata) during spring and summer. To assess suitability of discriminant models using 9 remigial measurements, we compared model performance (% agreement between predicted age and age assigned to birds on the basis of definitive cloacal or rectral feather characteristics) in different flyways (Mississippi and Pacific) and between years (1990-91 and 1991-92). We also applied age-classification models to wings obtained from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service harvest surveys in the Mississippi and Central-Pacific flyways (wing-bees) for which age had been determined using qualitative characteristics (i.e., remigial markings, shape, or wear). Except for male northern shovelers, models correctly aged lt 90% (range 70-86%) of blue-winged ducks. Model performance varied among species and differed between sexes and years. Proportions of individuals that were correctly aged were greater for males (range 63-86%) than females (range 39-69%). Models for northern shovelers performed better in flyway comparisons within year (1991-92, La. model applied to Calif. birds, and Calif. model applied to La. birds: 90 and 94% for M, and 89 and 76% for F, respectively) than in annual comparisons within the Mississippi Flyway (1991-92 model applied to 1990-91 data: 79% for M, 50% for F). Exclusion of measurements that varied by flyway or year did not improve model performance. Quantitative methods appear to be of limited value for age separation of female blue-winged ducks. Close agreement between predicted age and age assigned to wings from the wing-bees suggests that qualitative and quantitative methods may be equally accurate for age separation of male blue-winged ducks. We interpret annual

  6. Characteristics of Butanol Isomers Oxidation in a Micro Flow Reactor

    KAUST Repository

    Bin Hamzah, Muhamad Firdaus

    2017-01-01

    Ignition and combustion characteristics of n-butanol/air, 2-butanol.air and isobutanol/air mixtures at stoichiometric (ϕ = 1) and lean (ϕ = 0.5) conditions were investigated in a micro flow reactor with a controlled temperature profile from 323 K

  7. Composite corrugated structures for morphing wing skin applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Thill, C; Etches, J A; Bond, I P; Potter, K D; Weaver, P M

    2010-01-01

    Composite corrugated structures are known for their anisotropic properties. They exhibit relatively high stiffness parallel (longitudinal) to the corrugation direction and are relatively compliant in the direction perpendicular (transverse) to the corrugation. Thus, they offer a potential solution for morphing skin panels (MSPs) in the trailing edge region of a wing as a morphing control surface. In this paper, an overview of the work carried out by the present authors over the last few years on corrugated structures for morphing skin applications is first given. The second part of the paper presents recent work on the application of corrugated sandwich structures. Panels made from multiple unit cells of corrugated sandwich structures are used as MSPs in the trailing edge region of a scaled morphing aerofoil section. The aerofoil section features an internal actuation mechanism that allows chordwise length and camber change of the trailing edge region (aft 35% chord). Wind tunnel testing was carried out to demonstrate the MSP concept but also to explore its limitations. Suggestions for improvements arising from this study were deduced, one of which includes an investigation of a segmented skin. The overall results of this study show that the MSP concept exploiting corrugated sandwich structures offers a potential solution for local morphing wing skins for low speed and small air vehicles

  8. Study on flow over finite wing with respect to F-22 raptor, Supermarine Spitfire, F-7 BG aircraft wing and analyze its stability performance and experimental values

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ali, Md. Nesar; Alam, Mahbubul

    2017-06-01

    A finite wing is a three-dimensional body, and consequently the flow over the finite wing is three-dimensional; that is, there is a component of flow in the span wise direction. The physical mechanism for generating lift on the wing is the existence of a high pressure on the bottom surface and a low pressure on the top surface. The net imbalance of the pressure distribution creates the lift. As a by-product of this pressure imbalance, the flow near the wing tips tends to curl around the tips, being forced from the high-pressure region just underneath the tips to the low-pressure region on top. This flow around the wing tips is shown in the front view of the wing. As a result, on the top surface of the wing, there is generally a span wise component of flow from the tip toward the wing root, causing the streamlines over the top surface to bend toward the root. On the bottom surface of the wing, there is generally a span wise component of flow from the root toward the tip, causing the streamlines over the bottom surface to bend toward the tip. Clearly, the flow over the finite wing is three-dimensional, and therefore we would expect the overall aerodynamic properties of such a wing to differ from those of its airfoil sections. The tendency for the flow to "leak" around the wing tips has another important effect on the aerodynamics of the wing. This flow establishes a circulatory motion that trails downstream of the wing; that is, a trailing vortex is created at each wing tip. The aerodynamics of finite wings is analyzed using the classical lifting line model. This simple model allows a closed-form solution that captures most of the physical effects applicable to finite wings. The model is based on the horseshoe-shaped vortex that introduces the concept of a vortex wake and wing tip vortices. The downwash induced by the wake creates an induced drag that did not exist in the two-dimensional analysis. Furthermore, as wingspan is reduced, the wing lift slope decreases

  9. Computational Investigation of Flapping-Wing Propulsion for a Micro-Air Vehicle

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Lim, Seng C

    2006-01-01

    ... CFD code that is available commercially. The unsteady Navier-Stokes flow fields, wake structures and forces variations were determined and compared with reference to past experimental observations...

  10. How wing kinematics affect power requirements and aerodynamic force production in a robotic bat wing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bahlman, Joseph W; Swartz, Sharon M; Breuer, Kenneth S

    2014-01-01

    Bats display a wide variety of behaviors that require different amounts of aerodynamic force. To control and modulate aerodynamic force, bats change wing kinematics, which, in turn, may change the power required for wing motion. There are many kinematic mechanisms that bats, and other flapping animals, can use to increase aerodynamic force, e.g. increasing wingbeat frequency or amplitude. However, we do not know if there is a difference in energetic cost between these different kinematic mechanisms. To assess the relationship between mechanical power input and aerodynamic force output across different isolated kinematic parameters, we programmed a robotic bat wing to flap over a range of kinematic parameters and measured aerodynamic force and mechanical power. We systematically varied five kinematic parameters: wingbeat frequency, wingbeat amplitude, stroke plane angle, downstroke ratio, and wing folding. Kinematic values were based on observed values from free flying Cynopterus brachyotis, the species on which the robot was based. We describe how lift, thrust, and power change with increases in each kinematic variable. We compare the power costs associated with generating additional force through the four kinematic mechanisms controlled at the shoulder, and show that all four mechanisms require approximately the same power to generate a given force. This result suggests that no single parameter offers an energetic advantage over the others. Finally, we show that retracting the wing during upstroke reduces power requirements for flapping and increases net lift production, but decreases net thrust production. These results compare well with studies performed on C. brachyotis, offering insight into natural flight kinematics. (paper)

  11. Variable multilayer reflection together with long-pass filtering pigment determines the wing coloration of papilionid butterflies of the nireus group

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Trzeciak, Tomasz M.; Wilts, Bodo D.; Stavenga, Doekele G.; Vukusic, Peter; Sterke, C. Martijn de

    2012-01-01

    The dorsal wing surfaces of papilionid butterflies of the nireus group are marked by bands of brilliant blue-green-colored cover scales. The thin, cuticular lower lamina of the scales acts as a blue reflector. The thick upper lamina forms a dense two-dimensional cuticular lattice of air cavities

  12. Air microjet system for non-contact force application and the actuation of micro-structures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Khare, S M; Venkataraman, V

    2016-01-01

    We demonstrate a non-contact technique to apply calibrated and localized forces in the micro-Newton to milli-Newton range using an air microjet. An electromagnetically actuated diaphragm controlled by a signal generator is used to generate the air microjet. With a nozzle diameter of 150 μm, the microjet diameter was maintained to a maximum of 1 mm at a distance of 5 mm from the nozzle. The force generated by the microjet was measured using a commercial force sensor to determine the velocity profile of the jet. Axial flow velocities of up to 25 m s −1 were obtained at distances as long as 6 mm. The microjet exerted a force up to 1 μN on a poly dimethyl siloxane (PDMS) micropillar (50 μm in diameter, 157 μm in height) and 415 μN on a PDMS membrane (3 mm in diameter, 28 μm thick). We also demonstrate that from a distance of 6 mm our microjet can exert a peak pressure of 187 Pa with a total force of about 84 μN on a flat surface with 8 V operating voltage. Out of the cleanroom fabrication and robust design make this system cost effective and durable. (technical note)

  13. Air microjet system for non-contact force application and the actuation of micro-structures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khare, S. M.; Venkataraman, V.

    2016-01-01

    We demonstrate a non-contact technique to apply calibrated and localized forces in the micro-Newton to milli-Newton range using an air microjet. An electromagnetically actuated diaphragm controlled by a signal generator is used to generate the air microjet. With a nozzle diameter of 150 μm, the microjet diameter was maintained to a maximum of 1 mm at a distance of 5 mm from the nozzle. The force generated by the microjet was measured using a commercial force sensor to determine the velocity profile of the jet. Axial flow velocities of up to 25 m s-1 were obtained at distances as long as 6 mm. The microjet exerted a force up to 1 μN on a poly dimethyl siloxane (PDMS) micropillar (50 μm in diameter, 157 μm in height) and 415 μN on a PDMS membrane (3 mm in diameter, 28 μm thick). We also demonstrate that from a distance of 6 mm our microjet can exert a peak pressure of 187 Pa with a total force of about 84 μN on a flat surface with 8 V operating voltage. Out of the cleanroom fabrication and robust design make this system cost effective and durable.

  14. Insect wings as retrospective/accidental/forensic dosimeters: An optically stimulated luminescence investigation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kazakis, Nikolaos A.; Tsetine, Anastasia Th.; Kitis, George; Tsirliganis, Nestor C.

    2016-01-01

    air-shafts. Finally, a new single aliquot measurement protocol is also successfully tested on the wings for the dose estimation, while further work is in progress to validate it on other (heat-sensitive) materials as well. - Highlights: • OSL of insects' wings are explored towards their use in retrospective/accidental/forensic dosimetry. • OSL dose response can be fitted with linear functions for doses up to 2 kGy. • Loss of OSL signal (fading) is imperceptible several days after their irradiation. • A novel single aliquot measurement protocol is successfully tested for the dose recovery.

  15. Finite-span rotating flat-plate wings at low reynolds number and the effects of aspect ratio

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carr, Zakery R.

    In the complex and dangerous environments of the modern warrior and emergency professional, the small size, maneuverability, and stealth of flapping-wing micro air vehicles (MAVs), scaled to the size of large insects or hummingbirds, has the potential to provide previously inaccessible levels of situational awareness, reconnaissance capability, and flexibility directly to the front lines. Although development of such an efficient, autonomous, and capable MAV is years away, there are immediate contributions that can be made to the fundamental science of the flapping-wing-type propulsion that makes MAVs so attractive. This investigation contributes to those fundamentals by considering the unsteady vortex dynamics problem of a rigid, rectangular flat plate at a fixed angle of attack rotating from rest---a simplified hovering half-stroke. Parameters are chosen to be biologically-relevant and relevant to MAVs operating at Reynolds numbers of O (103), and experiments are performed in a 50% by mass glycerin-water mixture. These experiments use novel application of methodologies verified by rigorous uncertainty analysis. The overall objective is to understand the vortex formation and forces as well as aspect ratio ( AR) effects. Of interest is the overall, time-varying, three-dimensional vortex structure obtained qualitatively from dye visualization and quantitatively from volumes reconstructed using planar stereoscopic digital particle image velocimetry (S-DPIV) measurements. The velocity information from S-DPIV also allows statements to be made on leading-edge vortex (LEV) stability, spanwise flow, LEV and tip-vortex (TV) circulation, and numerous circulation scalings. Force measurements are made and the lift coefficient is discussed in the context of the flow structure, the dimensional lift and the ability to relate velocity and force measurements going forward. AR effects is a topic of continued interest to those performing MAV-related research and also a primary

  16. On the Distinct Effects of Left-Wing and Right-Wing Populism on Democratic Quality

    OpenAIRE

    Huber, Robert A.; Schimpf, Christian H.

    2017-01-01

    This study examines the differences and commonalities of how populist parties of the left and right relate to democracy. The focus is narrowed to the relationship between these parties and two aspects of democratic quality, minority rights and mutual constraints. Our argument is twofold: first, we contend that populist parties can exert distinct influences on minority rights, depending on whether they are left-wing or right-wing populist parties. Second, by contrast, we propose that the assoc...

  17. Aerodynamic performance of a hovering hawkmoth with flexible wings: a computational approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nakata, Toshiyuki; Liu, Hao

    2012-02-22

    Insect wings are deformable structures that change shape passively and dynamically owing to inertial and aerodynamic forces during flight. It is still unclear how the three-dimensional and passive change of wing kinematics owing to inherent wing flexibility contributes to unsteady aerodynamics and energetics in insect flapping flight. Here, we perform a systematic fluid-structure interaction based analysis on the aerodynamic performance of a hovering hawkmoth, Manduca, with an integrated computational model of a hovering insect with rigid and flexible wings. Aerodynamic performance of flapping wings with passive deformation or prescribed deformation is evaluated in terms of aerodynamic force, power and efficiency. Our results reveal that wing flexibility can increase downwash in wake and hence aerodynamic force: first, a dynamic wing bending is observed, which delays the breakdown of leading edge vortex near the wing tip, responsible for augmenting the aerodynamic force-production; second, a combination of the dynamic change of wing bending and twist favourably modifies the wing kinematics in the distal area, which leads to the aerodynamic force enhancement immediately before stroke reversal. Moreover, an increase in hovering efficiency of the flexible wing is achieved as a result of the wing twist. An extensive study of wing stiffness effect on aerodynamic performance is further conducted through a tuning of Young's modulus and thickness, indicating that insect wing structures may be optimized not only in terms of aerodynamic performance but also dependent on many factors, such as the wing strength, the circulation capability of wing veins and the control of wing movements.

  18. Aircraft Wing for Over-The-Wing Mounting of Engine Nacelle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hahn, Andrew S. (Inventor); Kinney, David J. (Inventor)

    2011-01-01

    An aircraft wing has an inboard section and an outboard section. The inboard section is attached (i) on one side thereof to the aircraft's fuselage, and (ii) on an opposing side thereof to an inboard side of a turbofan engine nacelle in an over-the-wing mounting position. The outboard section's leading edge has a sweep of at least 20 degrees. The inboard section's leading edge has a sweep between -15 and +15 degrees, and extends from the fuselage to an attachment position on the nacelle that is forward of an index position defined as an imaginary intersection between the sweep of the outboard section's leading edge and the inboard side of the nacelle. In an alternate embodiment, the turbofan engine nacelle is replaced with an open rotor engine nacelle.

  19. The wings of Bombyx mori develop from larval discs exhibiting an ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Unknown

    presumptive wing blade domains unlike in Drosophila, where it is confined to the hinge and the wing pouch. ... events are different and the wing discs behave like presumptive wing buds .... emerge with the fore- and the hind-wings (figure 1e, j) on ... phosis (compare c with d, and h with i) during the larval to pupal transition.

  20. Physics-based Morphology Analysis and Adjoint Optimization of Flexible Flapping Wings

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-08-30

    production, power consumption , and efficiency. Novel tools for studying wing morphing during complicated flapping flights have been developed to...23 Figure 14. Transverse plane cut at mid-downstroke. (a) Cut through wing and body (b) Cut through the near wake (no wings...between wing surfaces and corresponding least square planes . The distances are normalized by wing mid chord length

  1. Force measurements of flexible tandem wings in hovering and forward flights

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zheng, Yingying; Wu, Yanhua; Tang, Hui

    2015-01-01

    Aerodynamic forces, power consumptions and efficiencies of flexible and rigid tandem wings undergoing combined plunging/pitching motion were measured in a hovering flight and two forward flights with Strouhal numbers of 0.6 and 0.3. Three flexible dragonfly-like tandem wing models termed Wing I, Wing II, and Wing III which are progressively less flexible, as well as a pair of rigid wings as the reference were operated at three phase differences of 0°, 90° and 180°. The results showed that both the flexibility and phase difference have significant effects on the aerodynamic performances. In both hovering and forward flights at a higher oscillation frequency of 1 Hz (St = 0.6), the Wing III model outperformed the other wing models with larger total horizontal force coefficient and efficiency. In forward flight at the lower frequency of 0.5 Hz (St = 0.3), Wing III, rigid wings and Wing II models performed best at 0°, 90° and 180° phase difference, respectively. From the time histories of force coefficients of fore- and hind-wings, different peak values, phase lags, and secondary peaks were found to be the important reasons to cause the differences in the average horizontal force coefficients. Particle image velocimetry and deformation measurements were performed to provide the insights into how the flexibility affects the aerodynamic performance of the tandem wings. The spanwise bending deformation was found to contribute to the horizontal force, by offering a more beneficial position to make LEV more attached to the wing model in both hovering and forward flights, and inducing a higher-velocity region in forward flight. (paper)

  2. Wings of the butterfly: Sunspot groups for 1826-2015

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leussu, R.; Usoskin, I. G.; Senthamizh Pavai, V.; Diercke, A.; Arlt, R.; Denker, C.; Mursula, K.

    2017-03-01

    The spatio-temporal evolution of sunspot activity, the so-called Maunder butterfly diagram, has been continously available since 1874 using data from the Royal Greenwich Observatory, extended by SOON network data after 1976. Here we present a new extended butterfly diagram of sunspot group occurrence since 1826, using the recently digitized data from Schwabe (1826-1867) and Spörer (1866-1880). The wings of the diagram are separated using a recently developed method based on an analysis of long gaps in sunspot group occurrence in different latitude bands. We define characteristic latitudes, corresponding to the start, end, and the largest extent of the wings (the F, L, and H latitudes). The H latitudes (30°-45°) are highly significantly correlated with the strength of the wings (quantified by the total sum of the monthly numbers of sunspot groups). The F latitudes (20°-30°) depict a weak tendency, especially in the southern hemisphere, to follow the wing strength. The L latitudes (2°-10°) show no clear relation to the wing strength. Overall, stronger cycle wings tend to start at higher latitudes and have a greater wing extent. A strong (5-6)-cycle periodic oscillation is found in the start and end times of the wings and in the overlap and gaps between successive wings of one hemisphere. While the average wing overlap is zero in the southern hemisphere, it is two to three months in the north. A marginally significant oscillation of about ten solar cycles is found in the asymmetry of the L latitudes. The new long database of butterfly wings provides new observational constraints to solar dynamo models that discuss the spatio-temporal distribution of sunspot occurrence over the solar cycle and longer. Digital data for Fig. 1 are available at the CDS via anonymous ftp to http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (http://130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/qcat?J/A+A/599/A131

  3. Micro-bubble morphologies following drop impacts onto a pool surface

    KAUST Repository

    Thoroddsen, Sigurdur T; Thoraval, M.-J.; Takehara, K.; Etoh, T.G.

    2012-01-01

    When a drop impacts at low velocity onto a pool surface, a hemispheric air layer cushions and can delay direct contact. Herein we use ultra-high-speed video to study the rupture of this layer, to explain the resulting variety of observed distribution of bubbles. The size and distribution of micro-bubbles is determined by the number and location of the primary punctures. Isolated holes lead to the formation of bubble necklaces when the edges of two growing holes meet, whereas bubble nets are produced by regular shedding of micro-bubbles from a sawtooth edge instability. For the most viscous liquids the air film contracts more rapidly than the capillary-viscous velocity through repeated spontaneous ruptures of the edge. From the speed of hole opening and the total volume of micro-bubbles we conclude that the air sheet ruptures when its thickness approaches ?100.

  4. Micro-bubble morphologies following drop impacts onto a pool surface

    KAUST Repository

    Thoroddsen, Sigurdur T.

    2012-10-01

    When a drop impacts at low velocity onto a pool surface, a hemispheric air layer cushions and can delay direct contact. Herein we use ultra-high-speed video to study the rupture of this layer, to explain the resulting variety of observed distribution of bubbles. The size and distribution of micro-bubbles is determined by the number and location of the primary punctures. Isolated holes lead to the formation of bubble necklaces when the edges of two growing holes meet, whereas bubble nets are produced by regular shedding of micro-bubbles from a sawtooth edge instability. For the most viscous liquids the air film contracts more rapidly than the capillary-viscous velocity through repeated spontaneous ruptures of the edge. From the speed of hole opening and the total volume of micro-bubbles we conclude that the air sheet ruptures when its thickness approaches ?100.

  5. Experimental investigation into wing span and angle-of-attack effects on sub-scale race car wing/wheel interaction aerodynamics

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Diasinos, S. [Toyota F1, Koeln (Germany); Gatto, A. [Brunel University, Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Engineering and Design, Uxbridge (United Kingdom)

    2008-09-15

    This paper details a quantitative 3D investigation using LDA into the interaction aerodynamics on a sub-scale open wheel race car inverted front wing and wheel. Of primary importance to this study was the influence of changing wing angle of attack and span on the resulting near-field and far-field flow characteristics. Results obtained showed that both variables do have a significant influence on the resultant flow-field, particularly on wing vortex and wheel wake development and propagation. (orig.)

  6. Experimental investigation into wing span and angle-of-attack effects on sub-scale race car wing/wheel interaction aerodynamics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Diasinos, S.; Gatto, A.

    2008-09-01

    This paper details a quantitative 3D investigation using LDA into the interaction aerodynamics on a sub-scale open wheel race car inverted front wing and wheel. Of primary importance to this study was the influence of changing wing angle of attack and span on the resulting near-field and far-field flow characteristics. Results obtained showed that both variables do have a significant influence on the resultant flow-field, particularly on wing vortex and wheel wake development and propagation.

  7. Thunderbolts and Eggshells: Composite Air Operations During Desert Storm and Implications for USAF Doctrine and Force Structure

    Science.gov (United States)

    1994-09-01

    2-5. 60. See UT Col Mark A. Welsh, "lay ot the Killer Scouts." Air Porne Magazine, April 1993, 66-70. 61. T’imothy T’. Lupfer, "The D)ynamics of D...TFW - Tactical Fighter Wing TFW(P) - Tactical Fighter Wing (Provisional) TLFE - Theater Large Force Employment Exercise UAE - United Arab Emirates

  8. Wing pressure distributions from subsonic tests of a high-wing transport model. [in the Langley 14- by 22-Foot Subsonic Wind Tunnel

    Science.gov (United States)

    Applin, Zachary T.; Gentry, Garl L., Jr.; Takallu, M. A.

    1995-01-01

    A wind tunnel investigation was conducted on a generic, high-wing transport model in the Langley 14- by 22-Foot Subsonic Tunnel. This report contains pressure data that document effects of various model configurations and free-stream conditions on wing pressure distributions. The untwisted wing incorporated a full-span, leading-edge Krueger flap and a part-span, double-slotted trailing-edge flap system. The trailing-edge flap was tested at four different deflection angles (20 deg, 30 deg, 40 deg, and 60 deg). Four wing configurations were tested: cruise, flaps only, Krueger flap only, and high lift (Krueger flap and flaps deployed). Tests were conducted at free-stream dynamic pressures of 20 psf to 60 psf with corresponding chord Reynolds numbers of 1.22 x 10(exp 6) to 2.11 x 10(exp 6) and Mach numbers of 0.12 to 0.20. The angles of attack presented range from 0 deg to 20 deg and were determined by wing configuration. The angle of sideslip ranged from minus 20 deg to 20 deg. In general, pressure distributions were relatively insensitive to free-stream speed with exceptions primarily at high angles of attack or high flap deflections. Increasing trailing-edge Krueger flap significantly reduced peak suction pressures and steep gradients on the wing at high angles of attack. Installation of the empennage had no effect on wing pressure distributions. Unpowered engine nacelles reduced suction pressures on the wing and the flaps.

  9. Flying Wings. A New Paradigm for Civil Aviation?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    R. Martinez-Val

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available Over the last 50 years, commercial aviation has been mainly based what is currently called the conventional layout, characterized by a slender fuselage mated to a high aspect ratio wing, with aft-tail planes and pod-mounted engines under the wing. However, it seems that this primary configuration is approaching an asymptote in its productivity and performance characteristics. One of the most promising configurations for the future is the flying wing in its distinct arrangements: blended-wing-body, C-wing, tail-less aircraft, etc. These layouts might provide significant fuel savings and, hence, a decrease in pollution. This configuration would also reduce noise in take-off and landing. All this explains the great deal of activity carried out by the aircraft industry and by numerous investigators to perform feasibility and conceptual design studies of this aircraft layout to gain better knowledge of its main characteristics: productivity, airport compatibility, passenger acceptance, internal architecture, emergency evacuation, etc. The present paper discusses the main features of flying wings, their advantages over conventional competitors, and some key operational issues, such as evacuation and vortex wake intensity. 

  10. Formation of broad Balmer wings in symbiotic stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chang, Seok-Jun; Heo, Jeong-Eun; Hong, Chae-Lin; Lee, Hee-Won

    2016-01-01

    Symbiotic stars are binary systems composed of a hot white dwarf and a mass losing giant. In addition to many prominent emission lines symbiotic stars exhibit Raman scattered O VI features at 6825 and 7088 Å. Another notable feature present in the spectra of many symbiotics is the broad wings around Balmer lines. Astrophysical mechanisms that can produce broad wings include Thomson scattering by free electrons and Raman scattering of Ly,β and higher series by neutral hydrogen. In this poster presentation we produce broad wings around Hα and H,β adopting a Monte Carlo techinique in order to make a quantitative comparison of these two mechanisms. Thomson wings are characterized by the exponential cutoff given by the termal width whereas the Raman wings are dependent on the column density and continuum shape in the far UV region. A brief discussion is provided. (paper)

  11. Reactive Flow Control of Delta Wing Vortex (Postprint)

    Science.gov (United States)

    2006-08-01

    wing aircraft. A substantial amount of research has been dedicated to the control of aerodynamic flows using both passive and active control mechanisms...Passive vortex control devices such as vortex generators and winglets attach to the wing and require no energy input. Passive vortex control...leading edges is also effective for changing the aerodynamic characteristics of delta wings [2] [3]. Gutmark and Guillot [5] proposed controlling

  12. GPS-based Microenvironment Tracker (MicroTrac) Model to ...

    Science.gov (United States)

    A critical aspect of air pollution exposure assessment is the estimation of the time spent by individuals in various microenvironments (ME). Accounting for the time spent in different ME with different pollutant concentrations can reduce exposure misclassifications, while failure to do so can add uncertainty and bias to risk estimates. In this study, a classification model, called MicroTrac, was developed to estimate time of day and duration spent in eight ME (indoors and outdoors at home, work, school; inside vehicles; other locations) from global positioning system (GPS) data and geocoded building boundaries. Based on a panel study, MicroTrac estimates were compared to 24 h diary data from 7 participants on workdays and 2 participants on nonworkdays, with corresponding GPS data and building boundaries of home, school, and work. MicroTrac correctly classified the ME for 99.5% of the daily time spent by the participants. The capability of MicroTrac could help to reduce the time-location uncertainty in air pollution exposure models and exposure metrics for individuals in health studies. The National Exposure Research Laboratory’s (NERL’s) Human Exposure and Atmospheric Sciences Division (HEASD) conducts research in support of EPA’s mission to protect human health and the environment. HEASD’s research program supports Goal 1 (Clean Air) and Goal 4 (Healthy People) of EPA’s strategic plan. More specifically, our division conducts research to characterize

  13. Air Force Host and Tenant Agreements Between the 50th Space Wing, the Joint National Integration Center, and Tenants

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    2007-01-01

    .... The 50th Space Wing makes available by permit two buildings on the base's real property records, 720 and 730, to the Joint National Integration Center, a Component of the Missile Defense Agency...

  14. Lift production through asymmetric flapping

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jalikop, Shreyas; Sreenivas, K. R.

    2009-11-01

    At present, there is a strong interest in developing Micro Air Vehicles (MAV) for applications like disaster management and aerial surveys. At these small length scales, the flight of insects and small birds suggests that unsteady aerodynamics of flapping wings can offer many advantages over fixed wing flight, such as hovering-flight, high maneuverability and high lift at large angles of attack. Various lift generating mechanims such as delayed stall, wake capture and wing rotation contribute towards our understanding of insect flight. We address the effect of asymmetric flapping of wings on lift production. By visualising the flow around a pair of rectangular wings flapping in a water tank and numerically computing the flow using a discrete vortex method, we demonstrate that net lift can be produced by introducing an asymmetry in the upstroke-to-downstroke velocity profile of the flapping wings. The competition between generation of upstroke and downstroke tip vortices appears to hold the key to understanding this lift generation mechanism.

  15. Enhanced cooling in mono-crystalline ultra-thin silicon by embedded micro-air channels

    KAUST Repository

    Ghoneim, Mohamed T.; Fahad, Hossain M.; Hussain, Aftab M.; Rojas, Jhonathan Prieto; Sevilla, Galo T.; Alfaraj, Nasir; Lizardo, Ernesto B.; Hussain, Muhammad Mustafa

    2015-01-01

    In today’s digital world, complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology enabled scaling of bulk mono-crystalline silicon (100) based electronics has resulted in their higher performance but with increased dynamic and off-state power consumption. Such trade-off has caused excessive heat generation which eventually drains the charge of battery in portable devices. The traditional solution utilizing off-chip fans and heat sinks used for heat management make the whole system bulky and less mobile. Here we show, an enhanced cooling phenomenon in ultra-thin (>10 μm) mono-crystalline (100) silicon (detached from bulk substrate) by utilizing deterministic pattern of porous network of vertical “through silicon” micro-air channels that offer remarkable heat and weight management for ultra-mobile electronics, in a cost effective way with 20× reduction in substrate weight and a 12% lower maximum temperature at sustained loads. We also show the effectiveness of this event in functional MOS field effect transistors (MOSFETs) with high-κ/metal gate stacks.

  16. Enhanced cooling in mono-crystalline ultra-thin silicon by embedded micro-air channels

    KAUST Repository

    Ghoneim, Mohamed T.

    2015-12-11

    In today’s digital world, complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology enabled scaling of bulk mono-crystalline silicon (100) based electronics has resulted in their higher performance but with increased dynamic and off-state power consumption. Such trade-off has caused excessive heat generation which eventually drains the charge of battery in portable devices. The traditional solution utilizing off-chip fans and heat sinks used for heat management make the whole system bulky and less mobile. Here we show, an enhanced cooling phenomenon in ultra-thin (>10 μm) mono-crystalline (100) silicon (detached from bulk substrate) by utilizing deterministic pattern of porous network of vertical “through silicon” micro-air channels that offer remarkable heat and weight management for ultra-mobile electronics, in a cost effective way with 20× reduction in substrate weight and a 12% lower maximum temperature at sustained loads. We also show the effectiveness of this event in functional MOS field effect transistors (MOSFETs) with high-κ/metal gate stacks.

  17. [Wing 1 radiation survey and contamination report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Olsen, K.

    1991-01-01

    We have completed the 5480.11 survey for Wing 1. All area(s)/item(s) requested by the 5480.11 committee have been thoroughly surveyed and documented. Decontamination/disposal of contaminated items has been accomplished. The wing 1 survey was started on 8/13/90 and completed 9/18/90. However, the follow-up surveys were not completed until 2/18/91. We received the final set of smear samples for wing 1 on 1/13/91. A total of 5,495 smears were taken from wing 1 and total of 465 smears were taken during the follow-up surveys. There were a total 122 items found to have fixed contamination and 4 items with smearable contamination in excess of the limits specified in DOE ORDER 5480.11 (AR 3-7). The following area(s)/item(s) were not included in the 5480.11 survey: Hallways, Access panels, Men's and women's change rooms, Janitor closets, Wall lockers and item(s) stored in wing 1 hallways and room 1116. If our contract is renewed, we will include those areas in our survey according to your request of April 15, 1991

  18. Structure design of an innovative adaptive variable camber wing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhao An-Min

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, an innovative double rib sheet structure is proposed, which can replace the traditional rigid hinge joint with the surface contact. On the one hand, the variable camber wing structural design not only can improve the capacity to sustain more load but also will not increase the overall weight of the wing. On the other hand, it is a simple mechanical structure design to achieve the total wing camber change. Then the numerical simulation results show that the maximum stress at the connect of the wing rib is 88.2MPa, and the double ribs sheet engineering design meet the structural strength requirements. In addition, to make a fair comparison, the parameters of variable camber are fully referenced to the Talon Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV. The results reveal that the total variable camber wing can further enhance aircraft flight efficiency by 29.4%. The design of the whole variable camber wing structure proposed in this paper has high engineering value and feasibility.

  19. Program for establishing long-time flight service performance of composite materials in the center wing structure of C-130 aircraft. Phase 5: flight service and inspection. Final report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kizer, J.A.

    1981-10-01

    Inspections of the C-130 composite-reinforced center wings were conducted over the flight service monitoring period of more than six years. Twelve inspections were conducted on each of the two C-130H airplanes having composite reinforced center wing boxes. Each inspection consisted of visual and ultrasonic inspection of the selective boron-epoxy reinforced center wings which included the inspection of the boron-epoxy laminates and the boron-epoxy reinforcement/aluminum structure adhesive bondlines. During the flight service monitoring period, the two C-130H aircraft accumulated more than 10,000 flight hours and no defects were detected in the inspections over this period. The successful performance of the C-130H aircraft with composite-reinforced center wings allowed the transfer of the responsibilities of inspecting and maintaining these two aircraft to the U. S. Air Force

  20. Study on Micro Wind Generator System for Automobile

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fujimoto, Koji; Washizu, Shinsuke; Ichikawa, Tomohiko; Yukita, Kazuto; Goto, Yasuyuki; Ichiyanagi, Katsuhiro; Oshima, Takamitsu; Hayashi, Niichi; Tobi, Nobuo

    This paper proposes the micro wind generator system for automobile. This proposes system is composed of the deflector, the micro windmill, the generator, and electric storage device. Then, the effectiveness is confirmed from an examination using air blower. Therefore, new energy can be expected to be obtained by installing this system in the truck.

  1. Moveable Leading Edge Device for a Wing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pitt, Dale M. (Inventor); Eckstein, Nicholas Stephen (Inventor)

    2013-01-01

    A method and apparatus for managing a flight control surface system. A leading edge section on a wing of an aircraft is extended into a deployed position. A deformable section connects the leading edge section to a trailing section. The deformable section changes from a deformed shape to an original shape when the leading edge section is moved into the deployed position. The leading edge section on the wing is moved from the deployed position to an undeployed position. The deformable section changes to the deformed shape inside of the wing.

  2. How swifts control their glide performance with morphing wings

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Lentink, D.; Muller, U. K.; Stamhuis, E. J.; de Kat, R.; van Gestel, W.; Veldhuis, L. L. M.; Henningsson, P.; Hedenstrom, A.; Videler, J. J.

    2007-01-01

    Gliding birds continually change the shape and size of their wings(1-6), presumably to exploit the profound effect of wing morphology on aerodynamic performance(7-9). That birds should adjust wing sweep to suit glide speed has been predicted qualitatively by analytical glide models(2,10), which

  3. Butterfly wing coloration studied with a novel imaging scatterometer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stavenga, Doekele

    2010-03-01

    Animal coloration functions for display or camouflage. Notably insects provide numerous examples of a rich variety of the applied optical mechanisms. For instance, many butterflies feature a distinct dichromatism, that is, the wing coloration of the male and the female differ substantially. The male Brimstone, Gonepteryx rhamni, has yellow wings that are strongly UV iridescent, but the female has white wings with low reflectance in the UV and a high reflectance in the visible wavelength range. In the Small White cabbage butterfly, Pieris rapae crucivora, the wing reflectance of the male is low in the UV and high at visible wavelengths, whereas the wing reflectance of the female is higher in the UV and lower in the visible. Pierid butterflies apply nanosized, strongly scattering beads to achieve their bright coloration. The male Pipevine Swallowtail butterfly, Battus philenor, has dorsal wings with scales functioning as thin film gratings that exhibit polarized iridescence; the dorsal wings of the female are matte black. The polarized iridescence probably functions in intraspecific, sexual signaling, as has been demonstrated in Heliconius butterflies. An example of camouflage is the Green Hairstreak butterfly, Callophrys rubi, where photonic crystal domains exist in the ventral wing scales, resulting in a matte green color that well matches the color of plant leaves. The spectral reflection and polarization characteristics of biological tissues can be rapidly and with unprecedented detail assessed with a novel imaging scatterometer-spectrophotometer, built around an elliptical mirror [1]. Examples of butterfly and damselfly wings, bird feathers, and beetle cuticle will be presented. [4pt] [1] D.G. Stavenga, H.L. Leertouwer, P. Pirih, M.F. Wehling, Optics Express 17, 193-202 (2009)

  4. Wing-pitching mechanism of hovering Ruby-throated hummingbirds

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Song, Jialei; Luo, Haoxiang; Hedrick, Tyson L

    2015-01-01

    In hovering flight, hummingbirds reverse the angle of attack of their wings through pitch reversal in order to generate aerodynamic lift during both downstroke and upstroke. In addition, the wings may pitch during translation to further enhance lift production. It is not yet clear whether these pitching motions are caused by the wing inertia or actuated through the musculoskeletal system. Here we perform a computational analysis of the pitching dynamics by incorporating the realistic wing kinematics to determine the inertial effects. The aerodynamic effect is also included using the pressure data from a previous three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics simulation of a hovering hummingbird. The results show that like many insects, pitch reversal of the hummingbird is, to a large degree, caused by the wing inertia. However, actuation power input at the root is needed in the beginning of pronation to initiate a fast pitch reversal and also in mid-downstroke to enable a nose-up pitching motion for lift enhancement. The muscles on the wing may not necessarily be activated for pitching of the distal section. Finally, power analysis of the flapping motion shows that there is no requirement for substantial elastic energy storage or energy absorption at the shoulder joint. (paper)

  5. Genetic Basis of Melanin Pigmentation in Butterfly Wings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Linlin; Martin, Arnaud; Perry, Michael W; van der Burg, Karin R L; Matsuoka, Yuji; Monteiro, Antónia; Reed, Robert D

    2017-04-01

    Despite the variety, prominence, and adaptive significance of butterfly wing patterns, surprisingly little is known about the genetic basis of wing color diversity. Even though there is intense interest in wing pattern evolution and development, the technical challenge of genetically manipulating butterflies has slowed efforts to functionally characterize color pattern development genes. To identify candidate wing pigmentation genes, we used RNA sequencing to characterize transcription across multiple stages of butterfly wing development, and between different color pattern elements, in the painted lady butterfly Vanessa cardui This allowed us to pinpoint genes specifically associated with red and black pigment patterns. To test the functions of a subset of genes associated with presumptive melanin pigmentation, we used clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/Cas9 genome editing in four different butterfly genera. pale , Ddc , and yellow knockouts displayed reduction of melanin pigmentation, consistent with previous findings in other insects. Interestingly, however, yellow-d , ebony , and black knockouts revealed that these genes have localized effects on tuning the color of red, brown, and ochre pattern elements. These results point to previously undescribed mechanisms for modulating the color of specific wing pattern elements in butterflies, and provide an expanded portrait of the insect melanin pathway. Copyright © 2017 by the Genetics Society of America.

  6. Wing-pitching mechanism of hovering Ruby-throated hummingbirds.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Song, Jialei; Luo, Haoxiang; Hedrick, Tyson L

    2015-01-19

    In hovering flight, hummingbirds reverse the angle of attack of their wings through pitch reversal in order to generate aerodynamic lift during both downstroke and upstroke. In addition, the wings may pitch during translation to further enhance lift production. It is not yet clear whether these pitching motions are caused by the wing inertia or actuated through the musculoskeletal system. Here we perform a computational analysis of the pitching dynamics by incorporating the realistic wing kinematics to determine the inertial effects. The aerodynamic effect is also included using the pressure data from a previous three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics simulation of a hovering hummingbird. The results show that like many insects, pitch reversal of the hummingbird is, to a large degree, caused by the wing inertia. However, actuation power input at the root is needed in the beginning of pronation to initiate a fast pitch reversal and also in mid-downstroke to enable a nose-up pitching motion for lift enhancement. The muscles on the wing may not necessarily be activated for pitching of the distal section. Finally, power analysis of the flapping motion shows that there is no requirement for substantial elastic energy storage or energy absorption at the shoulder joint.

  7. Low noise wing slat system with rigid cove-filled slat

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shmilovich, Arvin (Inventor); Yadlin, Yoram (Inventor)

    2013-01-01

    Concepts and technologies described herein provide for a low noise aircraft wing slat system. According to one aspect of the disclosure provided herein, a cove-filled wing slat is used in conjunction with a moveable panel rotatably attached to the wing slat to provide a high lift system. The moveable panel rotates upward against the rear surface of the slat during deployment of the slat, and rotates downward to bridge a gap width between the stowed slat and the lower wing surface, completing the continuous outer mold line shape of the wing, when the cove-filled slat is retracted to the stowed position.

  8. Study on airflow characteristics of rear wing of F1 car

    Science.gov (United States)

    Azmi, A. R. S.; Sapit, A.; Mohammed, A. N.; Razali, M. A.; Sadikin, A.; Nordin, N.

    2017-09-01

    The paper aims to investigate CFD simulation is carried out to investigate the airflow along the rear wing of F1 car with Reynold number of 3 × 106 and velocity, u = 43.82204 m/s. The analysis was done using 2-D model consists of main plane and flap wing, combined together to form rear wing module. Both of the aerofoil is placed inside a box of 350mm long and 220mm height according to regulation set up by FIA. The parameters for this study is the thickness and the chord length of the flap wing aerofoil. The simulations were performed by using FLUENT solver and k-kl-omega model. The wind speed is set up to 43 m/s that is the average speed of F1 car when cornering. This study uses NACA 2408, 2412, and 2415 for the flap wing and BE50 for the main plane. Each cases being simulated with a gap between the aerofoil of 10mm and 50mm when the DRS is activated. Grid independence test and validation was conduct to make sure the result obtained is acceptable. The goal of this study is to investigate aerodynamic behavior of airflow around the rear wing as well as to see how the thickness and the chord length of flap wing influence the airflow at the rear wing. The results show that increasing in thickness of the flap wing aerofoil will decreases the downforce. The results also show that although the short flap wing generate lower downforce than the big flap wing, but the drag force can be significantly reduced as the short flap wing has more change in angle of attack when it is activated. Therefore, the type of aerofoil for the rear wing should be decided according to the circuit track so that it can be fully optimized.

  9. The Characterization of Material Properties and Structural Dynamics of the Manduca Sexta Forewing for Application to Flapping Wing Micro Air Vehicle Design

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Hara, Ryan P.

    Collateral damage presents a significant risk during air drops and airstrikes, risking citizens' lives and property, straining the relationship between the United States Air Force and host nations. This dissertation presents a methodology to determine the optimal location for making supply airdrops in order to minimize collateral damage while maintaining a high likelihood of successful recovery. A series of non-linear optimization algorithms are presented along with their relative success in finding the optimal location in the airdrop problem. Additionally, we present a quick algorithm for accurately creating the Pareto frontier in the multi-objective airstrike problem. We demonstrate the effect of differing guidelines, damage functions, and weapon employment selection which significantly alter the location of the optimal aimpoint in this targeting problem. Finally, we have provided a framework for making policy decisions in fast-moving troops-in-contact situations where observers are unsure of the nature of possible enemy forces in both finite and infinite time horizon problems. Through a recursive technique of solving this Markov decision process we have demonstrated the effect of improved intelligence and differing weights in the face of uncertain situations.

  10. Non-linear dynamics of wind turbine wings

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Larsen, Jesper Winther; Nielsen, Søren R.K.

    2006-01-01

    The paper deals with the formulation of non-linear vibrations of a wind turbine wing described in a wing fixed moving coordinate system. The considered structural model is a Bernoulli-Euler beam with due consideration to axial twist. The theory includes geometrical non-linearities induced...

  11. Dynamics of F-actin prefigure the structure of butterfly wing scales.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dinwiddie, April; Null, Ryan; Pizzano, Maria; Chuong, Lisa; Leigh Krup, Alexis; Ee Tan, Hwei; Patel, Nipam H

    2014-08-15

    The wings of butterflies and moths consist of dorsal and ventral epidermal surfaces that give rise to overlapping layers of scales and hairs (Lepidoptera, "scale wing"). Wing scales (average length ~200 µm) are homologous to insect bristles (macrochaetes), and their colors create the patterns that characterize lepidopteran wings. The topology and surface sculpture of wing scales vary widely, and this architectural complexity arises from variations in the developmental program of the individual scale cells of the wing epithelium. One of the more striking features of lepidopteran wing scales are the longitudinal ridges that run the length of the mature (dead) cell, gathering the cuticularized scale cell surface into pleats on the sides of each scale. While also present around the periphery of other insect bristles and hairs, longitudinal ridges in lepidopteran wing scales gain new significance for their creation of iridescent color through microribs and lamellae. Here we show the dynamics of the highly organized F-actin filaments during scale cell development, and present experimental manipulations of actin polymerization that reveal the essential role of this cytoskeletal component in wing scale elongation and the positioning of longitudinal ribs. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  12. Short revolving wings enable hovering animals to avoid stall and reduce drag

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lentink, David; Kruyt, Jan W.; Heijst, Gertjan F.; Altshuler, Douglas L.

    2014-11-01

    Long and slender wings reduce the drag of airplanes, helicopters, and gliding animals, which operate at low angle of attack (incidence). Remarkably, there is no evidence for such influence of wing aspect ratio on the energetics of hovering animals that operate their wings at much higher incidence. High incidence causes aircraft wings to stall, hovering animals avoid stall by generating an attached vortex along the leading edge of their wings that elevates lift. Hypotheses that explain this capability include the necessity for a short radial distance between the shoulder joint and wing tip, measured in chord lengths, instead of the long tip-to-tip distance that elevates aircraft performance. This stems from how hovering animals revolve their wings around a joint, a condition for which the precise effect of aspect ratio on stall performance is unknown. Here we show that the attachment of the leading edge vortex is determined by wing aspect ratio with respect to the center of rotation-for a suite of aspect ratios that represent both animal and aircraft wings. The vortex remains attached when the local radius is shorter than 4 chord lengths, and separates outboard on more slender wings. Like most other hovering animals, hummingbirds have wing aspect ratios between 3 and 4, much stubbier than helicopters. Our results show this makes their wings robust against flow separation, which reduces drag below values obtained with more slender wings. This revises our understanding of how aspect ratio improves performance at low Reynolds numbers.

  13. Stable structural color patterns displayed on transparent insect wings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shevtsova, Ekaterina; Hansson, Christer; Janzen, Daniel H; Kjærandsen, Jostein

    2011-01-11

    Color patterns play central roles in the behavior of insects, and are important traits for taxonomic studies. Here we report striking and stable structural color patterns--wing interference patterns (WIPs)--in the transparent wings of small Hymenoptera and Diptera, patterns that have been largely overlooked by biologists. These extremely thin wings reflect vivid color patterns caused by thin film interference. The visibility of these patterns is affected by the way the insects display their wings against various backgrounds with different light properties. The specific color sequence displayed lacks pure red and matches the color vision of most insects, strongly suggesting that the biological significance of WIPs lies in visual signaling. Taxon-specific color patterns are formed by uneven membrane thickness, pigmentation, venation, and hair placement. The optically refracted pattern is also stabilized by microstructures of the wing such as membrane corrugations and spherical cell structures that reinforce the pattern and make it essentially noniridescent over a large range of light incidences. WIPs can be applied to map the micromorphology of wings through direct observation and are useful in several fields of biology. We demonstrate their usefulness as identification patterns to solve cases of cryptic species complexes in tiny parasitic wasps, and indicate their potentials for research on the genetic control of wing development through direct links between the transregulatory wing landscape and interference patterns we observe in Drosophila model species. Some species display sexually dimorphic WIPs, suggesting sexual selection as one of the driving forces for their evolution.

  14. Aerodynamic Optimization of an Over-the-Wing-Nacelle-Mount Configuration

    OpenAIRE

    Sasaki, Daisuke; Nakahashi, Kazuhiro

    2011-01-01

    An over-the-wing-nacelle-mount airplane configuration is known to prevent the noise propagation from jet engines toward ground. However, the configuration is assumed to have low aerodynamic efficiency due to the aerodynamic interference effect between a wing and a nacelle. In this paper, aerodynamic design optimization is conducted to improve aerodynamic efficiency to be equivalent to conventional under-the-wing-nacelle-mount configuration. The nacelle and wing geometry are modified to achiev...

  15. Insect Analogue to the Lotus Leaf: A Planthopper Wing Membrane Incorporating a Low-Adhesion, Nonwetting, Superhydrophobic, Bactericidal, and Biocompatible Surface.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Watson, Gregory S; Green, David W; Cribb, Bronwen W; Brown, Christopher L; Meritt, Christopher R; Tobin, Mark J; Vongsvivut, Jitraporn; Sun, Mingxia; Liang, Ai-Ping; Watson, Jolanta A

    2017-07-19

    Nature has produced many intriguing and spectacular surfaces at the micro- and nanoscales. These small surface decorations act for a singular or, in most cases, a range of functions. The minute landscape found on the lotus leaf is one such example, displaying antiwetting behavior and low adhesion with foreign particulate matter. Indeed the lotus leaf has often been considered the "benchmark" for such properties. One could expect that there are animal counterparts of this self-drying and self-cleaning surface system. In this study, we show that the planthopper insect wing (Desudaba danae) exhibits a remarkable architectural similarity to the lotus leaf surface. Not only does the wing demonstrate a topographical likeness, but some surface properties are also expressed, such as nonwetting behavior and low adhering forces with contaminants. In addition, the insect-wing cuticle exhibits an antibacterial property in which Gram-negative bacteria (Porphyromonas gingivalis) are killed over many consecutive waves of attacks over 7 days. In contrast, eukaryote cell associations, upon contact with the insect membrane, lead to a formation of integrated cell sheets (e.g., among human stem cells (SHED-MSC) and human dermal fibroblasts (HDF)). The multifunctional features of the insect membrane provide a potential natural template for man-made applications in which specific control of liquid, solid, and biological contacts is desired and required. Moreover, the planthopper wing cuticle provides a "new" natural surface with which numerous interfacial properties can be explored for a range of comparative studies with both natural and man-made materials.

  16. U.S. Air Force Environmental Assessment: Repair by Replacement JP-8 Fuel Transfer Line Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-12-01

    Midwest City, 8143 E.~;,~!,’: ~vallable_at the Metropolitan Should you have any comments on the DEAs • homa City, OK 73110-7589. • written comments may...IEADQUARTERS 720 A IR BASE WING (ArM C) TINKER AIR rORCE BASE. OKLAI IOMA MEMORANDUM FOR A IT ACHED DISTRIBUTION LIST FROM: 72 ABW/CE 7535 fifth

  17. Aviators and Air Combat: A Study of the U.S. Eighth Air Force and R.A.F. Bomber Command

    Science.gov (United States)

    1992-07-01

    moved to the top of the popular music charts in 1942. See Bruce D. Callander, "They Wanted Wings," Air Force Magazine (January 1991) p. 82. 19 Even in the...infantry of the Somme in 1916. According to some accounts, airmen faced German flak, searchlights, and "Schrdge Musik " in the same way their fathers had

  18. Experimental Investigation of a Wing-in-Ground Effect Craft

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Mobassher Tofa

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The aerodynamic characteristics of the wing-in-ground effect (WIG craft model that has a noble configuration of a compound wing was experimentally investigated and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM wind tunnel with and without endplates. Lift and drag forces, pitching moment coefficients, and the centre of pressure were measured with respect to the ground clearance and the wing angle of attack. The ground effect and the existence of the endplates increase the wing lift-to-drag ratio at low ground clearance. The results of this research work show new proposed design of the WIG craft with compound wing and endplates, which can clearly increase the aerodynamic efficiency without compromising the longitudinal stability. The use of WIG craft is representing an ambitious technology that will help in reducing time, effort, and money of the conventional marine transportation in the future.

  19. Experimental investigation of a wing-in-ground effect craft.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tofa, M Mobassher; Maimun, Adi; Ahmed, Yasser M; Jamei, Saeed; Priyanto, Agoes; Rahimuddin

    2014-01-01

    The aerodynamic characteristics of the wing-in-ground effect (WIG) craft model that has a noble configuration of a compound wing was experimentally investigated and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) wind tunnel with and without endplates. Lift and drag forces, pitching moment coefficients, and the centre of pressure were measured with respect to the ground clearance and the wing angle of attack. The ground effect and the existence of the endplates increase the wing lift-to-drag ratio at low ground clearance. The results of this research work show new proposed design of the WIG craft with compound wing and endplates, which can clearly increase the aerodynamic efficiency without compromising the longitudinal stability. The use of WIG craft is representing an ambitious technology that will help in reducing time, effort, and money of the conventional marine transportation in the future.

  20. Individual particle analysis of coarse air suspended particulate material by synchrotron radiation X-ray micro fluorescence

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moreira, Silvana; Melo Junior, Ariston; Vives, Ana Elisa S. de; Nascimento Filho, Virgilio F.

    2005-01-01

    The purpose of this work is evaluate the size of individual particles present in the air suspended particulate material collected in Campinas, Sao Paulo State, and analyze quantitatively the particles using the synchrotron radiation X-ray micro fluorescence (μ-SRXRF) associated with the fundamental parameter method to correct attenuation/absorption effects by the matrix. The particles analyzed have size between 50-10 μm and to perform the spatial distribution a white beam of synchrotron radiation condensed by a conical capillary (13 μm diameter) was used. For the quantitative analysis punctual measures in thin films standards in Mylar subtract were performed. The elements detected were Si, S, Cl, K, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ba and Pb. (author)

  1. Individual particle analysis of coarse air suspended particulate material by synchrotron radiation X-ray micro fluorescence

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Moreira, Silvana; Melo Junior, Ariston [Universidade Estadual de Campinas, SP (Brazil). Faculdade de Engenharia Civil, Arquitetura e Urbanismo. Dept. de Recursos Hidricos]. E-mail: silvana@fec.unicamp.br; Perez, Carlos Alberto [Laboratorio Nacional de Luz Sincrotron (LNLS), Campinas, SP (Brazil)]. E-mail: perez@lnls.br; Vives, Ana Elisa S. de [Universidade Metodista de Piracicaba (UNIMEP), Santa Barbara D' Oeste, SP (Brazil). Faculdade de Engenharia, Arquitetura e Urbanismo]. E-mail: aesvives@unimep.br; Nascimento Filho, Virgilio F. [Centro de Energia Nuclear na Agricultura (CENA), Piracicaba, SP (Brazil). Lab. de Instrumentacao Nuclear]. E-mail: virgilio@cena.usp.br

    2005-07-01

    The purpose of this work is evaluate the size of individual particles present in the air suspended particulate material collected in Campinas, Sao Paulo State, and analyze quantitatively the particles using the synchrotron radiation X-ray micro fluorescence ({mu}-SRXRF) associated with the fundamental parameter method to correct attenuation/absorption effects by the matrix. The particles analyzed have size between 50-10 {mu}m and to perform the spatial distribution a white beam of synchrotron radiation condensed by a conical capillary (13 {mu}m diameter) was used. For the quantitative analysis punctual measures in thin films standards in Mylar subtract were performed. The elements detected were Si, S, Cl, K, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ba and Pb. (author)

  2. Observations and Measurements of Wing Parameters of the Selected Beetle Species and the Design of a Mechanism Structure Implementing a Complex Wing Movement

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Geisler T.

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Beetle wings perform a flapping movement, consisting of the rotation relative to the two axes. This paper presents the results of observations and measurements of wings operating parameters in different planes of some beetle species. High speed photos and videos were used. The concept of the mechanism performing a complex wing movement was proposed and developed.

  3. Observations and Measurements of Wing Parameters of the Selected Beetle Species and the Design of a Mechanism Structure Implementing a Complex Wing Movement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Geisler, T.

    2016-12-01

    Beetle wings perform a flapping movement, consisting of the rotation relative to the two axes. This paper presents the results of observations and measurements of wings operating parameters in different planes of some beetle species. High speed photos and videos were used. The concept of the mechanism performing a complex wing movement was proposed and developed.

  4. Utilization of Optimization for Design of Morphing Wing Structures for Enhanced Flight

    Science.gov (United States)

    Detrick, Matthew Scott

    Conventional aircraft control surfaces constrain maneuverability. This work is a comprehensive study that looks at both smart material and conventional actuation methods to achieve wing twist to potentially improve flight capability using minimal actuation energy while allowing minimal wing deformation under aerodynamic loading. A continuous wing is used in order to reduce drag while allowing the aircraft to more closely approximate the wing deformation used by birds while loitering. The morphing wing for this work consists of a skin supported by an underlying truss structure whose goal is to achieve a given roll moment using less actuation energy than conventional control surfaces. A structural optimization code has been written in order to achieve minimal wing deformation under aerodynamic loading while allowing wing twist under actuation. The multi-objective cost function for the optimization consists of terms that ensure small deformation under aerodynamic loading, small change in airfoil shape during wing twist, a linear variation of wing twist along the length of the wing, small deviation from the desired wing twist, minimal number of truss members, minimal wing weight, and minimal actuation energy. Hydraulic cylinders and a two member linkage driven by a DC motor are tested separately to provide actuation. Since the goal of the current work is simply to provide a roll moment, only one actuator is implemented along the wing span. Optimization is also used to find the best location within the truss structure for the actuator. The active structure produced by optimization is then compared to simulated and experimental results from other researchers as well as characteristics of conventional aircraft.

  5. Reassessment of the wing feathers of Archaeopteryx lithographica suggests no robust evidence for the presence of elongated dorsal wing coverts.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Robert L Nudds

    Full Text Available Recently it was proposed that the primary feathers of Archaeopteryx lithographica (HMN1880 were overlaid by long covert feathers, and that a multilayered feathered wing was a feature of early fossils with feathered forelimbs. The proposed long covert feathers of Archaeopteryx were previously interpreted as dorsally displaced remiges or a second set of impressions made by the wing. The following study shows that the qualitative arguments forwarded in support of the elongated covert hypothesis are neither robust nor supported quantitatively. The idea that the extant bird wing with its single layer of overlapping primaries evolved from an earlier multilayered heavily coveted feathered forelimb as seen in Anchiornis huxleyi is reasonable. At this juncture, however, it is premature to conclude unequivocally that the wing of Archaeopteryx consisted of primary feathers overlaid with elongated coverts.

  6. Anatomy and histochemistry of spread-wing posture in birds. I. Wing drying posture in the double-crested cormorant, Phalacrocorax auritus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meyers, Ron A

    1997-07-01

    Spread-wing postures of birds often have been studied with respect to the function of behavior, but ignored with regard to the mechanism by which the birds accomplish posture. The double-crested cormorant, Phalacrocorax auritus, was used as a model for this study of spread-wing posture. Those muscles capable of positioning and maintaining the wing in extension and protraction were assayed histochemically for the presence of slow (postural) muscle fibers. Within the forelimb of Phalacrocorax, Mm. coracobrachialis cranialis, pectoralis thoracicus (cranial portion), deltoideus minor, triceps scapularis, and extensor metacarpi radialis pars dorsalis and ventralis were found to contain populations of slow-twitch or slow-tonic muscle fibers. These slow fibers in the above muscles are considered to function during spread-wing posture in this species. J Morphol 233:67-76, 1997. © 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc. Copyright © 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  7. Recent developments in rotary-wing aerodynamic theory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, W.

    1986-01-01

    Current progress in the computational analysis of rotary-wing flowfields is surveyed, and some typical results are presented in graphs. Topics examined include potential theory, rotating coordinate systems, lifting-surface theory (moving singularity, fixed wing, and rotary wing), panel methods (surface singularity representations, integral equations, and compressible flows), transonic theory (the small-disturbance equation), wake analysis (hovering rotor-wake models and transonic blade-vortex interaction), limitations on computational aerodynamics, and viscous-flow methods (dynamic-stall theories and lifting-line theory). It is suggested that the present algorithms and advanced computers make it possible to begin working toward the ultimate goal of turbulent Navier-Stokes calculations for an entire rotorcraft.

  8. Measurement of micro Bubbles generated by a pressurized dissolution method

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hosokawa, S; Tanaka, K; Tomiyama, A [Kobe University, 1-1 Rokkodai, Nada, Kobe 657-8501 (Japan); Maeda, Y; Yamaguchi, S; Ito, Y, E-mail: hosokawa@mech.kobe-u.ac.j [Panasonic Electric Works Co., Ltd., 1048 Kadoma, Osaka 571-8686 (Japan)

    2009-02-01

    Diameters of micro-bubbles are apt to range from about one mm to several-hundred mm, and therefore, it is difficult to measure a correct diameter distribution using a single measurement method. In this study, diameters of bubbles generated by a pressurized dissolution method are measured by using phase Doppler anemometry (PDA) and an image processing method, which is based on the Sobel filter and Hough transform. The diameter distribution and the Sauter mean diameter of micro bubbles are evaluated based on the diameters measured by both methods. Experiments are conducted for several mass flow rates of dissolved gas and of air bubbles entrained in the upstream of the decompression nozzle to examine effects of the entrained bubbles on bubble diameter. As a result, the following conclusions are obtained: (1) Diameter distribution of micro bubbles can be accurately measured for a wide range of diameter by using PDA and the image processing method. (2) The mean diameter of micro-bubbles generated by gasification of dissolved gas is smaller than that generated by breakup of air bubbles entrained in the upstream of the decompression nozzle. (3) The mean bubble diameter increases with the entrainment of air bubbles in the upstream of the decompression nozzle at a constant mass flow rate of dissolved gas.

  9. Measurement of micro Bubbles generated by a pressurized dissolution method

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hosokawa, S; Tanaka, K; Tomiyama, A; Maeda, Y; Yamaguchi, S; Ito, Y

    2009-01-01

    Diameters of micro-bubbles are apt to range from about one mm to several-hundred mm, and therefore, it is difficult to measure a correct diameter distribution using a single measurement method. In this study, diameters of bubbles generated by a pressurized dissolution method are measured by using phase Doppler anemometry (PDA) and an image processing method, which is based on the Sobel filter and Hough transform. The diameter distribution and the Sauter mean diameter of micro bubbles are evaluated based on the diameters measured by both methods. Experiments are conducted for several mass flow rates of dissolved gas and of air bubbles entrained in the upstream of the decompression nozzle to examine effects of the entrained bubbles on bubble diameter. As a result, the following conclusions are obtained: (1) Diameter distribution of micro bubbles can be accurately measured for a wide range of diameter by using PDA and the image processing method. (2) The mean diameter of micro-bubbles generated by gasification of dissolved gas is smaller than that generated by breakup of air bubbles entrained in the upstream of the decompression nozzle. (3) The mean bubble diameter increases with the entrainment of air bubbles in the upstream of the decompression nozzle at a constant mass flow rate of dissolved gas.

  10. Project Sekwa: A variable stability, blended-wing-body, research UAV

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Broughton, BA

    2008-10-01

    Full Text Available of flying wing and Blended-Wing-Body (BWB) platforms. The main objective of the project was to investigate the advantages and pitfalls of relaxing the longitudinal stability criteria on a Blended-Wing-Body UAV. The project was also aimed at expanding...

  11. Wing flexibility effects in clap-and-fling

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Percin, M.; Hu, Y.; Van Oudheusden, B.W.; Remes, B.; Scarano, F.

    2011-01-01

    The work explores the use of time-resolved tomographic PIV measurements to study a flapping-wing model, the related vortex generation mechanisms and the effect of wing flexibility on the clap-and-fling movement in particular. An experimental setup is designed and realized in a water tank by use of a

  12. Stiffness requirement of flexible skin for variable trailing-edge camber wing

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    2010-01-01

    The method for analyzing the deformation of flexible skin under the air loads was developed based on the panel method and finite element method.The deformation of flexible skin under air pressures and effects of the local deformation on the aerodynamic characteristics were discussed.Numerical results show that the flexible skin on the upper surface of trailing-edge will bubble under the air loads and the bubble has a powerful effect on the aerodynamic pressure near the surface of local deforma-tion.Then the stiffness requirements for flexible skin of variable trailing-edge were given by using the Jacobs rule,i.e.,the maximum displacement of skin is not greater than 0.1% of wing chord.Results show that the in-plane stiffness can be reduced by increasing the ratio of bending stiffness to in-plane stiffness.Although the deformation of flexible skin increases with the in-plane stiffness decreasing,it depends on the bending stiffness.When the bending stiffness exceeds critical value,the deformation of flexible skin only depends on the bending stiffness and has nothing to do with the in-plane stiffness.The conclusions can be used for the structural design of flexible skin.

  13. Pitch, roll, and yaw moment generator for insect-like tailless flapping-wing MAV

    Science.gov (United States)

    Phan, Hoang Vu; Park, Hoon Cheol

    2016-04-01

    In this work, we proposed a control moment generator, which is called Trailing Edge Change (TEC) mechanism, for attitudes change in hovering insect-like tailless flapping-wing MAV. The control moment generator was installed to the flapping-wing mechanism to manipulate the wing kinematics by adjusting the wing roots location symmetrically or asymmetrically. As a result, the mean aerodynamic force center of each wing is relocated and control moments are generated. The three-dimensional wing kinematics captured by three synchronized high-speed cameras showed that the flapping-wing MAV can properly modify the wing kinematics. In addition, a series of experiments were performed using a multi-axis load cell to evaluate the forces and moments generation. The measurement demonstrated that the TEC mechanism produced reasonable amounts of pitch, roll and yaw moments by shifting position of the trailing edges at the wing roots of the flapping-wing MAV.

  14. Recent progress in the analysis of iced airfoils and wings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cebeci, Tuncer; Chen, Hsun H.; Kaups, Kalle; Schimke, Sue

    1992-01-01

    Recent work on the analysis of iced airfoils and wings is described. Ice shapes for multielement airfoils and wings are computed using an extension of the LEWICE code that was developed for single airfoils. The aerodynamic properties of the iced wing are determined with an interactive scheme in which the solutions of the inviscid flow equations are obtained from a panel method and the solutions of the viscous flow equations are obtained from an inverse three-dimensional finite-difference boundary-layer method. A new interaction law is used to couple the inviscid and viscous flow solutions. The newly developed LEWICE multielement code is amplified to a high-lift configuration to calculate the ice shapes on the slat and on the main airfoil and on a four-element airfoil. The application of the LEWICE wing code to the calculation of ice shapes on a MS-317 swept wing shows good agreement with measurements. The interactive boundary-layer method is applied to a tapered iced wing in order to study the effect of icing on the aerodynamic properties of the wing at several angles of attack.

  15. Dynamic Model and Analysis of Asymmetric Telescopic Wing for Morphing Aircraft

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chen Lili

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Morphing aircraft has been the research hot topics of new concept aircrafts in aerospace engineering. Telescopic wing is an important morphing technology for morphing aircraft. This paper describes the dynamic equations and kinematic equations based on theorem of momentum and theorem of moment of momentum, which are available for all morphing aircrafts. Meanwhile,as simplified , dynamic equations for rectangular telescopic wing are presented. In order to avoid the complexity using aileron to generate rolling moment , an new idea that asymmetry of wings can generate roll moment is introduced. Finally, roll performance comparison of asymmetric wing and aileron deflection shows that asymmetric telescopic wing can provide the required roll control moment as aileron, and in some cases, telescopic wing has the superior roll performance.

  16. Digital Morphing Wing: Active Wing Shaping Concept Using Composite Lattice-Based Cellular Structures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jenett, Benjamin; Calisch, Sam; Cellucci, Daniel; Cramer, Nick; Gershenfeld, Neil; Swei, Sean; Cheung, Kenneth C

    2017-03-01

    We describe an approach for the discrete and reversible assembly of tunable and actively deformable structures using modular building block parts for robotic applications. The primary technical challenge addressed by this work is the use of this method to design and fabricate low density, highly compliant robotic structures with spatially tuned stiffness. This approach offers a number of potential advantages over more conventional methods for constructing compliant robots. The discrete assembly reduces manufacturing complexity, as relatively simple parts can be batch-produced and joined to make complex structures. Global mechanical properties can be tuned based on sub-part ordering and geometry, because local stiffness and density can be independently set to a wide range of values and varied spatially. The structure's intrinsic modularity can significantly simplify analysis and simulation. Simple analytical models for the behavior of each building block type can be calibrated with empirical testing and synthesized into a highly accurate and computationally efficient model of the full compliant system. As a case study, we describe a modular and reversibly assembled wing that performs continuous span-wise twist deformation. It exhibits high performance aerodynamic characteristics, is lightweight and simple to fabricate and repair. The wing is constructed from discrete lattice elements, wherein the geometric and mechanical attributes of the building blocks determine the global mechanical properties of the wing. We describe the mechanical design and structural performance of the digital morphing wing, including their relationship to wind tunnel tests that suggest the ability to increase roll efficiency compared to a conventional rigid aileron system. We focus here on describing the approach to design, modeling, and construction as a generalizable approach for robotics that require very lightweight, tunable, and actively deformable structures.

  17. Hydrodynamic characteristics for flow around wavy wings with different wave lengths

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mi Jeong Kim

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available The present study numerically investigates the effect of the wavy leading edge on hydrodynamic characteristics for the flow of rectangular wings with the low aspect ratio of 1.5. Five different wave lengths at fixed wavy amplitude have been considered. Numerical simulations are performed at a wide range of the angle of attack (0° ≤α ≤ 40° at one Reynolds number of 106. The wavy wings considered in this study did not experience enough lift drop to be defined as the stall, comparing with the smooth wing. However, in the pre-stall region, the wavy wings reveal the considerable loss of the lift, compared to the smooth wing. In the post-stall, the lift coefficients of the smooth wing and the wavy wings are not much different. The pressure coefficient, limiting streamlines and the iso-surface of the spanwise vorticity are also highlighted to examine the effect of the wave length on the flow structures.

  18. Characteristics of UV-MicroO3 Reactor and Its Application to Microcystins Degradation during Surface Water Treatment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Guangcan Zhu

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The UV-ozone (UV-O3 process is not widely applied in wastewater and potable water treatment partly for the relatively high cost since complicated UV radiation and ozone generating systems are utilized. The UV-microozone (UV-microO3, a new advanced process that can solve the abovementioned problems, was introduced in this study. The effects of air flux, air pressure, and air humidity on generation and concentration of O3 in UV-microO3 reactor were investigated. The utilization of this UV-microO3 reactor in microcystins (MCs degradation was also carried out. Experimental results indicated that the optimum air flux in the reactor equipped with 37 mm diameter quartz tube was determined to be 18∼25 L/h for efficient O3 generation. The air pressure and humidity in UV-microO3 reactor should be low enough in order to get optimum O3 output. Moreover, microcystin-RR, YR, and LR (MC-RR, MC-YR, and MC-LR could be degraded effectively by UV-microO3 process. The degradation of different MCs was characterized by first-order reaction kinetics. The pseudofirst-order kinetic constants for MC-RR, MC-YR, and MC-LR degradation were 0.0093, 0.0215, and 0.0286 min−1, respectively. Glucose had no influence on MC degradation through UV-microO3. The UV-microO3 process is hence recommended as a suitable advanced treatment method for dissolved MCs degradation.

  19. Ecdysone signaling underlies the pea aphid transgenerational wing polyphenism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vellichirammal, Neetha Nanoth; Gupta, Purba; Hall, Tannice A; Brisson, Jennifer A

    2017-02-07

    The wing polyphenism of pea aphids is a compelling laboratory model with which to study the molecular mechanisms underlying phenotypic plasticity. In this polyphenism, environmental stressors such as high aphid density cause asexual, viviparous adult female aphids to alter the developmental fate of their embryos from wingless to winged morphs. This polyphenism is transgenerational, in that the pea aphid mother experiences the environmental signals, but it is her offspring that are affected. Previous research suggested that the steroid hormone ecdysone may play a role in this polyphenism. Here, we analyzed ecdysone-related gene expression patterns and found that they were consistent with a down-regulation of the ecdysone pathway being involved in the production of winged offspring. We therefore predicted that reduced ecdysone signaling would result in more winged offspring. Experimental injections of ecdysone or its analog resulted in a decreased production of winged offspring. Conversely, interfering with ecdysone signaling using an ecdysone receptor antagonist or knocking down the ecdysone receptor gene with RNAi resulted in an increased production of winged offspring. Our results are therefore consistent with the idea that ecdysone plays a causative role in the regulation of the proportion of winged offspring produced in response to crowding in this polyphenism. Our results also show that an environmentally regulated maternal hormone can mediate phenotype production in the next generation, as well as provide significant insight into the molecular mechanisms underlying the functioning of transgenerational phenotypic plasticity.

  20. Analytical performances of laser-induced micro-plasma of Al samples with single and double ultrashort pulses in air and with Ar-jet: A comparative study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Semerok, A.; Dutouquet, C.

    2014-01-01

    Ultrashort pulse laser microablation coupled with optical emission spectroscopy was under study to obtain several micro-LIBS analytical features (shot-to-shot reproducibility, spectral line intensity and lifetime, calibration curves, detection limits). Laser microablation of Al matrix samples with known Cu- and Mg-concentrations was performed by single and double pulses of 50 fs and 1 ps pulse duration in air and with Ar-jet. The micro-LIBS analytical features obtained under different experimental conditions were characterized and compared. The highest shot-to-shot reproducibility and gain in plasma spectral line intensity were obtained with double pulses with Ar-jet for both 50 fs and 1 ps pulse durations. The best calibration curves were obtained with 1 ps pulse duration with Ar-jet. Micro-LIBS with ultrashort double pulses may find its effective application for surface elemental microcartography. - Highlights: • Analytical performances of micro-LIBS with ultrashort double pulses were studied. • The maximal line intensity gain of 20 was obtained with double pulses and Ar-jet. • LIBS gain was obtained without additional ablation of a sample by the second pulse. • LIBS properties were almost the same for both 50 fs and 1 ps pulses. • The micro-LIBS detection limit was around 35 ppm

  1. Longer wings for faster springs - wing length relates to spring phenology in a long-distance migrant across its range.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hahn, Steffen; Korner-Nievergelt, Fränzi; Emmenegger, Tamara; Amrhein, Valentin; Csörgő, Tibor; Gursoy, Arzu; Ilieva, Mihaela; Kverek, Pavel; Pérez-Tris, Javier; Pirrello, Simone; Zehtindjiev, Pavel; Salewski, Volker

    2016-01-01

    In migratory birds, morphological adaptations for efficient migratory flight often oppose morphological adaptations for efficient behavior during resident periods. This includes adaptations in wing shape for either flying long distances or foraging in the vegetation and in climate-driven variation of body size. In addition, the timing of migratory flights and particularly the timely arrival at local breeding sites is crucial because fitness prospects depend on site-specific phenology. Thus, adaptations for efficient long-distance flights might be also related to conditions at destination areas. For an obligatory long-distance migrant, the common nightingale, we verified that wing length as the aerodynamically important trait, but not structural body size increased from the western to the eastern parts of the species range. In contrast with expectation from aerodynamic theory, however, wing length did not increase with increasing migration distances. Instead, wing length was associated with the phenology at breeding destinations, namely the speed of local spring green-up. We argue that longer wings are beneficial for adjusting migration speed to local conditions for birds breeding in habitats with fast spring green-up and thus short optimal arrival periods. We suggest that the speed of spring green-up at breeding sites is a fundamental variable determining the timing of migration that fine tune phenotypes in migrants across their range.

  2. Topology optimization of compliant adaptive wing leading edge with composite materials

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tong Xinxing

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available An approach for designing the compliant adaptive wing leading edge with composite material is proposed based on the topology optimization. Firstly, an equivalent constitutive relationship of laminated glass fiber reinforced epoxy composite plates has been built based on the symmetric laminated plate theory. Then, an optimization objective function of compliant adaptive wing leading edge was used to minimize the least square error (LSE between deformed curve and desired aerodynamics shape. After that, the topology structures of wing leading edge of different glass fiber ply-orientations were obtained by using the solid isotropic material with penalization (SIMP model and sensitivity filtering technique. The desired aerodynamics shape of compliant adaptive wing leading edge was obtained based on the proposed approach. The topology structures of wing leading edge depend on the glass fiber ply-orientation. Finally, the corresponding morphing experiment of compliant wing leading edge with composite materials was implemented, which verified the morphing capability of topology structure and illustrated the feasibility for designing compliant wing leading edge. The present paper lays the basis of ply-orientation optimization for compliant adaptive wing leading edge in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV field.

  3. Enhanced cooling in mono-crystalline ultra-thin silicon by embedded micro-air channels

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohamed T. Ghoneim

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available In today’s digital world, complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS technology enabled scaling of bulk mono-crystalline silicon (100 based electronics has resulted in their higher performance but with increased dynamic and off-state power consumption. Such trade-off has caused excessive heat generation which eventually drains the charge of battery in portable devices. The traditional solution utilizing off-chip fans and heat sinks used for heat management make the whole system bulky and less mobile. Here we show, an enhanced cooling phenomenon in ultra-thin (>10 μm mono-crystalline (100 silicon (detached from bulk substrate by utilizing deterministic pattern of porous network of vertical “through silicon” micro-air channels that offer remarkable heat and weight management for ultra-mobile electronics, in a cost effective way with 20× reduction in substrate weight and a 12% lower maximum temperature at sustained loads. We also show the effectiveness of this event in functional MOS field effect transistors (MOSFETs with high-κ/metal gate stacks.

  4. Performance Assessment in a Heat Exchanger Tube with Opposite/Parallel Wing Twisted Tapes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Eiamsa-ard

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available The thermohydraulic performance in a tube containing a modified twisted tape with alternate-axes and wing arrangements is reported. This work aims to investigate the effects of wing arrangements (opposite (O and parallel (P wings at different wing shapes (triangle (Tri, rectangular (Rec, and trapezoidal (Tra wings and on the thermohydraulic performance characteristics. The obtained results show that wing twisted tapes with all wing shape arrangements (O-Tri/O-Rec/O-Tra/P-Tri/P-Rec/P-Tra give superior thermohydraulic performance and heat transfer rate to the typical twisted tape. In addition, the tapes with opposite wing arrangement of O-Tra, O-Rec, and O-Tri give superior thermohydraulic performances to those with parallel wing arrangement of P-Tra, P-Rec, and P-Tri around 2.7%, 3.5%, and 3.2%, respectively.

  5. Microscopic modulation of mechanical properties in transparent insect wings

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Arora, Ashima; Kumar, Pramod; Bhagavathi, Jithin; Singh, Kamal P., E-mail: kpsingh@iisermohali.ac.in; Sheet, Goutam, E-mail: goutam@iisermohali.ac.in [Department of Physical Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Mohali, Punjab 140306 (India)

    2014-02-10

    We report on the measurement of local friction and adhesion of transparent insect wings using an atomic force microscope cantilever down to nanometre length scales. We observe that the wing-surface is decorated with 10 μm long and 2 μm wide islands that have higher topographic height. The friction on the islands is two orders of magnitude higher than the back-ground while the adhesion on the islands is smaller. Furthermore, the high islands are decorated with ordered nano-wire-like structures while the background is full of randomly distributed granular nano-particles. Coherent optical diffraction through the wings produce a stable diffraction pattern revealing a quasi-periodic organization of the high islands over the entire wing. This suggests a long-range order in the modulation of friction and adhesion which is directly correlated with the topography. The measurements unravel novel functional design of complex wing surface and could find application in miniature biomimetic devices.

  6. Winging of scapula due to serratus anterior tear

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Varun Singh Kumar

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available 【Abstract】Winging of scapula occurs most commonly due to injury to long thoracic nerve supplying serratus anterior muscle. Traumatic injury to serratus anterior muscle itself is very rare. We reported a case of traumatic winging of scapula due to tear of serratus anterior muscle in a 19-year-old male. Winging was present in neutral position and in extension of right shoulder joint but not on "push on wall" test. Patient was managed conservatively and achieved satisfactory result. Key words: Serratus anterior tear; Scapula; Wounds and injuries

  7. Toward the bi-modal camber morphing of large aircraft wing flaps: the CleanSky experience

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pecora, R.; Amoroso, F.; Magnifico, M.

    2016-04-01

    The Green Regional Aircraft (GRA), one of the six CleanSky platforms, represents the largest European effort toward the greening of next generation air transportation through the implementation of advanced aircraft technologies. In this framework researches were carried out to develop an innovative wing flap enabling airfoil morphing according to two different modes depending on aircraft flight condition and flap setting: - Camber morphing mode. Morphing of the flap camber to enhance high-lift performances during take-off and landing (flap deployed); - Tab-like morphing mode. Upwards and downwards deflection of the flap tip during cruise (flap stowed) for load control at high speed and consequent optimization of aerodynamic efficiency. A true-scale flap segment of a reference aircraft (EASA CS25 category) was selected as investigation domain for the new architecture in order to duly face the challenges posed by real wing installation issues especially with reference to the tapered geometrical layout and 3D aerodynamic loads distributions. The investigation domain covered the flap region spanning 3.6 m from the wing kink and resulted characterized by a taper ratio equal to 0.75 with a root chord of 1.2 m. High TRL solutions for the adaptive structure, actuation and control system were duly analyzed and integrated while assuring overall device compliance with industrial standards and applicable airworthiness requirements.

  8. Leading-edge vortex shedding from rotating wings

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kolomenskiy, Dmitry [Centre de Recherches Mathématiques (CRM), Department of Mathematics and Statistics, McGill University, 805 Sherbrooke W., Montreal, QC H3A 0B9 (Canada); Elimelech, Yossef [Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000 (Israel); Schneider, Kai, E-mail: dkolom@gmail.com [M2P2–CNRS, Université d' Aix-Marseille, 39, rue Frédéric Joliot-Curie, F-13453 Marseille Cedex 13 (France)

    2014-06-01

    This paper presents a numerical investigation of the leading-edge vortices generated by rotating triangular wings at Reynolds number Re = 250. A series of three-dimensional numerical simulations have been carried out using a Fourier pseudo-spectral method with volume penalization. The transition from stable attachment of the leading-edge vortex to periodic vortex shedding is explored, as a function of the wing aspect ratio and the angle of attack. It is found that, in a stable configuration, the spanwise flow in the recirculation bubble past the wing is due to the centrifugal force, incompressibility and viscous stresses. For the flow outside of the bubble, an inviscid model of spanwise flow is presented. (papers)

  9. Hydraulic evaluation of the Crest Wing wave energy converter

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kofoed, J.P.; Antonishen, M.

    2008-09-15

    The Crest Wing Wave Energy Converter is currently being developed by Henning Pilgaard, of WaveEnergyFyn, Denmark. It is meant to act like a carpet on the water, conforming to the shape of each wave and using that movement to generate power. The thought of making a WEC that acts like a carpet on top of the waves is not new; ongoing or past projects such as the Pelamis and Cockerel Raft were designed with this thought in mind. The real difference with the Crest Wing is that it has skirt drafts, that extend down into the water and create suction; this increases the effective mass of the WEC while minimizing the material use. Special attention was given to the design of the first and last floaters as they are meant to act as a smooth transition between wave and machine. Their purpose is to make sure that no air gets under the two middle floaters so that suction is not broken and the device continues to function well. In summary the Crest Wing functions and is able to produce power with a good overall efficiency. The configuration with relative reference PTO (Power Take Off) is superior. It has not been proven that the idea of mounting skirts on the floaters is leading to a better performance. Thus, the study leads to the conclusion that the idea of making a simple hinged raft type device is good, and it is likely that the construction cost for a device of this type can be kept down. However, the study also leaves the chance that some limited draft of skirts in combination with inlet/outlet devices, could prove beneficial. In case of further testing on this device, an effort should be made to design and construct a more easily and accurately controlled PTO model in the test setup. This could greatly improve the quality of the output of such tests. (ln)

  10. New findings of twisted-wing parasites (Strepsiptera) in Alaska

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mcdermott, Molly

    2016-01-01

    Strepsipterans are a group of insects with a gruesome life history and an enigmatic evolutionary past. Called ‘twisted-wing parasites’, they are minute parasitoids with a very distinct morphology (Figure 1). Alternatively thought to be related to ichneumon wasps, Diptera (flies), Coleoptera (beetles), and even Neuroptera (net-winged insects) (Pohl and Beutel, 2013); the latest genetic and morphological data support the sister order relationship of Strepsiptera and Coleoptera (Niehuis et al., 2012). Strepsipterans are highly modified, males having two hind wings and halteres instead of front wings or elytra. Unlike most parasitoids, they develop inside active, living insects who are sexually sterilized but not killed until or after emergence (Kathirithamby et al., 2015).

  11. A model for roll stall and the inherent stability modes of low aspect ratio wings at low Reynolds numbers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shields, Matt

    The development of Micro Aerial Vehicles has been hindered by the poor understanding of the aerodynamic loading and stability and control properties of the low Reynolds number regime in which the inherent low aspect ratio (LAR) wings operate. This thesis experimentally evaluates the static and damping aerodynamic stability derivatives to provide a complete aerodynamic model for canonical flat plate wings of aspect ratios near unity at Reynolds numbers under 1 x 105. This permits the complete functionality of the aerodynamic forces and moments to be expressed and the equations of motion to solved, thereby identifying the inherent stability properties of the wing. This provides a basis for characterizing the stability of full vehicles. The influence of the tip vortices during sideslip perturbations is found to induce a loading condition referred to as roll stall, a significant roll moment created by the spanwise induced velocity asymmetry related to the displacement of the vortex cores relative to the wing. Roll stall is manifested by a linearly increasing roll moment with low to moderate angles of attack and a subsequent stall event similar to a lift polar; this behavior is not experienced by conventional (high aspect ratio) wings. The resulting large magnitude of the roll stability derivative, Cl,beta and lack of roll damping, Cl ,rho, create significant modal responses of the lateral state variables; a linear model used to evaluate these modes is shown to accurately reflect the solution obtained by numerically integrating the nonlinear equations. An unstable Dutch roll mode dominates the behavior of the wing for small perturbations from equilibrium, and in the presence of angle of attack oscillations a previously unconsidered coupled mode, referred to as roll resonance, is seen develop and drive the bank angle? away from equilibrium. Roll resonance requires a linear time variant (LTV) model to capture the behavior of the bank angle, which is attributed to the

  12. Analysis of Low Speed Stall Aerodynamics of a Swept Wing with Laminar Flow Glove

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bui, Trong T.

    2014-01-01

    Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis was conducted to study the low-speed stall aerodynamics of a GIII aircraft's swept wing modified with a laminar-flow wing glove. The stall aerodynamics of the gloved wing were analyzed and compared with the unmodified wing for the flight speed of 120 knots and altitude of 2300 ft above mean sea level (MSL). The Star-CCM+ polyhedral unstructured CFD code was first validated for wing stall predictions using the wing-body geometry from the First American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) CFD High-Lift Prediction Workshop. It was found that the Star-CCM+ CFD code can produce results that are within the scattering of other CFD codes considered at the workshop. In particular, the Star-CCM+ CFD code was able to predict wing stall for the AIAA wing-body geometry to within 1 degree of angle of attack as compared to benchmark wind-tunnel test data. Current results show that the addition of the laminar-flow wing glove causes the gloved wing to stall much earlier than the unmodified wing. Furthermore, the gloved wing has a different stall characteristic than the clean wing, with no sharp lift drop-off at stall for the gloved wing.

  13. Analysis of Low-Speed Stall Aerodynamics of a Swept Wing with Laminar-Flow Glove

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bui, Trong T.

    2014-01-01

    Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis was conducted to study the low-speed stall aerodynamics of a GIII aircraft's swept wing modified with a laminar-flow wing glove. The stall aerodynamics of the gloved wing were analyzed and compared with the unmodified wing for the flight speed of 120 knots and altitude of 2300 ft above mean sea level (MSL). The Star-CCM+ polyhedral unstructured CFD code was first validated for wing stall predictions using the wing-body geometry from the First American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) CFD High-Lift Prediction Workshop. It was found that the Star-CCM+ CFD code can produce results that are within the scattering of other CFD codes considered at the workshop. In particular, the Star-CCM+ CFD code was able to predict wing stall for the AIAA wing-body geometry to within 1 degree of angle of attack as compared to benchmark wind-tunnel test data. Current results show that the addition of the laminar-flow wing glove causes the gloved wing to stall much earlier than the unmodified wing. Furthermore, the gloved wing has a different stall characteristic than the clean wing, with no sharp lift drop-off at stall for the gloved wing.

  14. Three-Dimensional Piecewise-Continuous Class-Shape Transformation of Wings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Olson, Erik D.

    2015-01-01

    Class-Shape Transformation (CST) is a popular method for creating analytical representations of the surface coordinates of various components of aerospace vehicles. A wide variety of two- and three-dimensional shapes can be represented analytically using only a modest number of parameters, and the surface representation is smooth and continuous to as fine a degree as desired. This paper expands upon the original two-dimensional representation of airfoils to develop a generalized three-dimensional CST parametrization scheme that is suitable for a wider range of aircraft wings than previous formulations, including wings with significant non-planar shapes such as blended winglets and box wings. The method uses individual functions for the spanwise variation of airfoil shape, chord, thickness, twist, and reference axis coordinates to build up the complete wing shape. An alternative formulation parameterizes the slopes of the reference axis coordinates in order to relate the spanwise variation to the tangents of the sweep and dihedral angles. Also discussed are methods for fitting existing wing surface coordinates, including the use of piecewise equations to handle discontinuities, and mathematical formulations of geometric continuity constraints. A subsonic transport wing model is used as an example problem to illustrate the application of the methodology and to quantify the effects of piecewise representation and curvature constraints.

  15. Numerical study on aerodynamics of banked wing in ground effect

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Qing Jia

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Unlike conventional airplane, a WIG craft experiences righting moment and adverse yaw moment in banked turning in ground effect. Numerical simulations are carried out to study the aerodynamics of banked wing in ground effect. Configurations of rectangular wing and delta wing are considered, and performance of endplates and ailerons during banking are also studied. The study shows that righting moment increase nonlinearly with heeling angle, and endplates enhance the righting. The asymmetric aerodynamic distribution along span of wing with heeling angle introduces adverse yaw moment. Heeling in ground effect with small ground clearance increases the vertical aerodynamic force and makes WIG craft climb. Deflections of ailerons introduce lift decrease and a light pitching motion. Delta wing shows advantage in banked turning for smaller righting moment and adverse yaw moment during banking.

  16. Development and characterization of a novel air-breathing micro direct methanol fuel cell stack for portable applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu, Xiaowei; Zhang, Bo; Zhang, Yufeng; He, Hong; Li, Jianmin; Wang, Shibo; Yuan, Zhenyu; Deng, Huichao

    2010-01-01

    An air-breathing 10-cell micro direct methanol fuel cell (µDMFC) stack with four anode feeding patterns is designed, fabricated and tested. For a better understanding of the operational characteristics of both the single cell and the stack, a two-dimensional numerical model is established and calculated. Employing micro-stamping technology, the current collectors of each single cell are microfabricated on the stainless steel plate with a thickness of 300 µm. The single µDMFC is first tested under various operating parameters. On the basis of the simulation and experimental observation of the single cell performance, the µDMFC stack performance is thoroughly analyzed with different anode feeding patterns. The results indicate that the µDMFC stack with pattern B can ensure the uniform performance of each single cell and generate the highest power output. With pattern B, further experiments are carried out to investigate the influence of the anode flow rate on the stack performance. As a result, the µDMFC stack achieves the best performance with the maximum power density of about 24.75 mW cm −2 at 5.0 ml min −1 . Finally, the stack is successfully applied to two electronic devices of different rated power

  17. Spontaneous long-range calcium waves in developing butterfly wings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ohno, Yoshikazu; Otaki, Joji M

    2015-03-25

    Butterfly wing color patterns emerge as the result of a regular arrangement of scales produced by epithelial scale cells at the pupal stage. These color patterns and scale arrangements are coordinated throughout the wing. However, the mechanism by which the development of scale cells is controlled across the entire wing remains elusive. In the present study, we used pupal wings of the blue pansy butterfly, Junonia orithya, which has distinct eyespots, to examine the possible involvement of Ca(2+) waves in wing development. Here, we demonstrate that the developing pupal wing tissue of the blue pansy butterfly displayed spontaneous low-frequency Ca(2+) waves in vivo that propagated slowly over long distances. Some waves appeared to be released from the immediate peripheries of the prospective eyespot and discal spot, though it was often difficult to identify the specific origins of these waves. Physical damage, which is known to induce ectopic eyespots, led to the radiation of Ca(2+) waves from the immediate periphery of the damaged site. Thapsigargin, which is a specific inhibitor of Ca(2+)-ATPases in the endoplasmic reticulum, induced an acute increase in cytoplasmic Ca(2+) levels and halted the spontaneous Ca(2+) waves. Additionally, thapsigargin-treated wings showed incomplete scale development as well as other scale and color pattern abnormalities. We identified a novel form of Ca(2+) waves, spontaneous low-frequency slow waves, which travel over exceptionally long distances. Our results suggest that spontaneous Ca(2+) waves play a critical role in the coordinated development of scale arrangements and possibly in color pattern formation in butterflies.

  18. Butterflies: Photonic Crystals on the Wing

    Science.gov (United States)

    2007-03-22

    green hairstreak , Callophrys rubi, suggested that the scales have a 3D cubic network organization (Fig. 9). An extensive analysis of the scales of a...Fig. 9. a Ventral side of the wings of the green hairstreak , Callophrys rubi. b Transmission electron micrograph of a small area of a single...Report 3. DATES COVERED (From – To) 15 March 2006 - 08-Jun-07 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Butterflies : Photonic Crystals on the Wing 5a. CONTRACT

  19. Effect of flexibility on flapping wing characteristics under forward flight

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhu, Jianyang; Jiang, Lin; Zhou, Chaoying; Wang, Chao

    2014-01-01

    Through two-dimensional numerical simulation and by solving the unsteady incompressible Navier–Stokes (NS) equations, coupled with the structural dynamic equation for the motion of the wing, the effect of flexibility on flapping wing characteristics during forward flight is systematically studied. The flapping wing is considered as a cantilever, which performs the translational and rotational motion at its leading edge, and the other part is passively deformed by the aerodynamic force. The frequency ratio ω* and mass ratio m* are defined and used to characterize the flexibility of the flapping wing. It has been found that an optimal range of the frequency ratio exists in which the flexible wing possesses both a larger propulsive efficiency and lifting efficiency than their rigid counterpart. Also, the flexible wing with the smaller mass ratio may be of benefit to generate thrust, while the larger mass ratio may be of benefit to generate lift. In addition, a stronger leading edge vortex and reattachment vortex are observed around the appropriate flexibility wing’s surface, which therefore leads to better aerodynamic characteristics. (paper)

  20. Micro Climate Simulation in new Town 'Hashtgerd'

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sodoudi, S.; Langer, I.; Cubasch, U.

    2012-04-01

    One of the objectives of climatological part of project Young Cities 'Developing Energy-Efficient Urban Fabric in the Tehran-Karaj Region' is to simulate the micro climate (with 1m resolution) in 35ha of new town Hashtgerd, which is located 65 km far from mega city Tehran. The Project aims are developing, implementing and evaluating building and planning schemes and technologies which allow to plan and build sustainable, energy-efficient and climate sensible form mass housing settlements in arid and semi-arid regions ("energy-efficient fabric"). Climate sensitive form also means designing and planning for climate change and its related effects for Hashtgerd New Town. By configuration of buildings and open spaces according to solar radiation, wind and vegetation, climate sensitive urban form can create outdoor thermal comfort. To simulate the climate on small spatial scales, the micro climate model Envi-met has been used to simulate the micro climate in 35 ha. The Eulerian model ENVI-met is a micro-scale climate model which gives information about the influence of architecture and buildings as well as vegetation and green area on the micro climate up to 1 m resolution. Envi-met has been run with information from topography, downscaled climate data with neuro-fuzzy method, meteorological measurements, building height and different vegetation variants (low and high number of trees) Through the optimal Urban Design and Planning for the 35ha area the microclimate results shows, that with vegetation the microclimate in streets will be change: • 2 m temperature is decreased by about 2 K • relative humidity increase by about 10 % • soil temperature is decreased by about 3 K • wind speed is decreased by about 60% The style of buildings allows free movement of air, which is of high importance for fresh air supply. The increase of inbuilt areas in 35 ha reduces the heat island effect through cooling caused by vegetation and increase of air humidity which caused by

  1. The Drosophila DOCK family protein Sponge is required for development of the air sac primordium

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Morishita, Kazushge; Anh Suong, Dang Ngoc; Yoshida, Hideki; Yamaguchi, Masamitsu, E-mail: myamaguc@kit.ac.jp

    2017-05-15

    Dedicator of cytokinesis (DOCK) family genes are known as DOCK1-DOCK11 in mammals. DOCK family proteins mainly regulate actin filament polymerization and/or depolymerization and are GEF proteins, which contribute to cellular signaling events by activating small G proteins. Sponge (Spg) is a Drosophila counterpart to mammalian DOCK3/DOCK4, and plays a role in embryonic central nervous system development, R7 photoreceptor cell differentiation, and adult thorax development. In order to conduct further functional analyses on Spg in vivo, we examined its localization in third instar larval wing imaginal discs. Immunostaining with purified anti-Spg IgG revealed that Spg mainly localized in the air sac primordium (ASP) in wing imaginal discs. Spg is therefore predicted to play an important role in the ASP. The specific knockdown of Spg by the breathless-GAL4 driver in tracheal cells induced lethality accompanied with a defect in ASP development and the induction of apoptosis. The monitoring of ERK signaling activity in wing imaginal discs by immunostaining with anti-diphospho-ERK IgG revealed reductions in the ERK signal cascade in Spg knockdown clones. Furthermore, the overexpression of D-raf suppressed defects in survival and the proliferation of cells in the ASP induced by the knockdown of Spg. Collectively, these results indicate that Spg plays a critical role in ASP development and tracheal cell viability that is mediated by the ERK signaling pathway. - Highlights: • Spg mainly localizes in the air sac primordium in wing imaginal discs. • Spg plays a critical role in air sac primordium development. • Spg positively regulates the ERK signal cascade.

  2. Odors pulsed at wing beat frequencies are tracked by primary olfactory networks and enhance odor detection

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shreejoy Tripathy

    2010-03-01

    Full Text Available Each down stroke of an insect’s wings accelerates axial airflow over the antennae. Modeling studies suggest that this can greatly enhance penetration of air and air-born odorants through the antennal sensilla thereby periodically increasing odorant-receptor interactions. Do these periodic changes result in entrainment of neural responses in the antenna and antennal lobe (AL? Does this entrainment affect olfactory acuity? To address these questions, we monitored antennal and AL responses in the moth Manduca sexta while odorants were pulsed at frequencies from 10-72 Hz, encompassing the natural wingbeat frequency. Power spectral density (PSD analysis was used to identify entrainment of neural activity. Statistical analysis of PSDs indicates that the antennal nerve tracked pulsed odor up to 30 Hz. Furthermore, at least 50% of AL local field potentials (LFPs and between 7-25% of unitary spiking responses also tracked pulsed odor up to 30 Hz in a frequency-locked manner. Application of bicuculline (200µM abolished pulse tracking in both LFP and unitary responses suggesting that GABAA receptor activation is necessary for pulse tracking within the AL. Finally, psychophysical measures of odor detection establish that detection thresholds are lowered when odor is pulsed at 20 Hz. These results suggest that AL networks can respond to the oscillatory dynamics of stimuli such as those imposed by the wing beat in a manner analogous to mammalian sniffing.

  3. Internal-external flow integration for a thin ejector-flapped wing section

    Science.gov (United States)

    Woolard, H. W.

    1979-01-01

    Thin airfoil theories of an ejector flapped wing section are reviewed. The global matching of the external airfoil flow with the ejector internal flow and the overall ejector flapped wing section aerodynamic performance are examined. Mathematical models of the external and internal flows are presented. The delineation of the suction flow coefficient characteristics are discussed. The idealized lift performance of an ejector flapped wing relative to a jet augmented flapped wing are compared.

  4. Aerodynamic consequences of wing morphing during emulated take-off and gliding in birds.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Klaassen van Oorschot, Brett; Mistick, Emily A; Tobalske, Bret W

    2016-10-01

    Birds morph their wings during a single wingbeat, across flight speeds and among flight modes. Such morphing may allow them to maximize aerodynamic performance, but this assumption remains largely untested. We tested the aerodynamic performance of swept and extended wing postures of 13 raptor species in three families (Accipitridae, Falconidae and Strigidae) using a propeller model to emulate mid-downstroke of flapping during take-off and a wind tunnel to emulate gliding. Based on previous research, we hypothesized that (1) during flapping, wing posture would not affect maximum ratios of vertical and horizontal force coefficients (C V :C H ), and that (2) extended wings would have higher maximum C V :C H when gliding. Contrary to each hypothesis, during flapping, extended wings had, on average, 31% higher maximum C V :C H ratios and 23% higher C V than swept wings across all biologically relevant attack angles (α), and, during gliding, maximum C V :C H ratios were similar for the two postures. Swept wings had 11% higher C V than extended wings in gliding flight, suggesting flow conditions around these flexed raptor wings may be different from those in previous studies of swifts (Apodidae). Phylogenetic affiliation was a poor predictor of wing performance, due in part to high intrafamilial variation. Mass was only significantly correlated with extended wing performance during gliding. We conclude that wing shape has a greater effect on force per unit wing area during flapping at low advance ratio, such as take-off, than during gliding. © 2016. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

  5. Air Flow and Gassing Potential in Micro-injection Moulding

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Griffithsa, C.A.; Dimova, S.S.; Scholz, S.

    2011-01-01

    valuable information about the process dynamics and also about the filling of a cavity by a polymer melt. In this paper, a novel experimental set-up is proposed to monitor maximum air flow and air flow work as an integral of the air flow over time by employing a MEMS gas sensor mounted inside the mould...

  6. Numerical simulation of catalysis combustion inside micro free-piston engine

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, Qian; Zhang, Di; Bai, Jin; He, Zhixia

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • A modeling study is applied on methane HCCI process of micro power device. • Mathematical formulas are established to predict the combustion characteristics. • Impacts of catalysis on the combustion characteristics are analyzed respectively. • The catalyst can improve the work steadily and reliability of micro power device. - Abstract: In order to investigate the catalytic combustion characteristics concerning homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) in micro power device, numerical simulations with a 3D computation model that coupled motion of free piston and fluid dynamics of methane–air mixture flow were carried out and detailed gas-phase and surface catalytic reaction mechanisms of methane–air mixture were applied to the catalytic reactions model, a series of mathematical formula are established to predict the characteristics of compression ignition condition, impacts of catalysis on temperature, pressure, work capacity and other factors were analyzed respectively. Simulation results reveal that catalytic combustion facilitates the improvement of energy conversion efficiency and extends the ignition limit of methane–air mixture obviously, the ignition timing is brought forward as well, while compression ratio decreases and ignition delay period shrinks significantly. Numerical results demonstrate that the existence of catalytic wall helped to restrain the peak combustion pressure and maximum rate of pressure rise contributing to the steadily and reliability of operation inside micro free-piston power device.

  7. Spatial perturbation of a wing-tip vortex using pulsed span-wise jets

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heyes, A. L.; Smith, D. A. R.

    The separation distance required between transport aircraft to avoid wake vortices remains a limiting factor on airport capacity. The dissipation of the wake can be accelerated by perturbing co-operative instabilities between multiple pairs of vortices. This paper presents the results of a preliminary experimental investigation into the use of pulsed span-wise air jets in the wing tip to perturb a single tip vortex in the very near field. Velocity measurements were made using PIV and hot-wire anemometry. The results demonstrate that the vortex position can be modulated at frequencies up to 50 Hz and, as such, the method shows promise for forcing instability in multiple vortex wakes.

  8. Do hummingbirds use a different mechanism than insects to flip and twist their wings?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Song, Jialei; Luo, Haoxiang; Hedrick, Tyson

    2014-11-01

    Hovering hummingbirds flap their wings in an almost horizontal stroke plane and flip the wings to invert the angle of attack after stroke reversal, a strategy also utilized by many hovering insects such as fruit flies. However, unlike insects whose wing actuation mechanism is only located at the base, hummingbirds have a vertebrate musculoskeletal system and their wings contain bones and muscles and thus, they may be capable of both actively flipping and twisting their wings. To investigate this issue, we constructed a hummingbird wing model and study its pitching dynamics. The wing kinematics are reconstructed from high-speed imaging data, and the inertial torques are calculated in a rotating frame of reference using mass distribution data measured from dissections of hummingbird wings. Pressure data from a previous CFD study of the same wing kinematics are used to calculate the aerodynamic torque. The results show that like insect wings, the hummingbird wing pitching is driven by its own inertia during reversal, and the aerodynamic torque is responsible for wing twist during mid-stroke. In conclusion, our study suggests that their wing dynamics are very similar even though their actuation systems are entirely different. This research was supported by the NSF.

  9. Investigation of Surface Enhanced Coherent Raman Scattering on Nano-patterned Insect Wings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ujj, Laszlo; Lawhead, Carlos

    2015-03-01

    Many insect wings (cicadas, butterflies, mosquitos) poses nano-patterned surface structure. Characterization of surface morphology and chemical composition of insect wings is important to understand the extreme mechanical properties and the biophysical functionalities of the wings. We have measured the image of the membrane of a cicada's wing with the help of Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The results confirm the existing periodic structure of the wing measured previously. In order to identify the chemical composition of the wing, we have deposited silver nanoparticles on it and applied Coherent anti-Stokes Raman Spectroscopy to measure the vibrational spectra of the molecules comprising the wing for the first time. The measured spectra are consistent with the original assumption that the wing membrane is composed of protein, wax, and chitin. The results of these studies can be used to measure other nano-patterned surfaces and to make artificial materials in the future. Authors grateful for financial support from the Department of Physics of the College of Sciences Engineering and Health of UWF and the Pall Corporation for SEM imaging.

  10. Experimental transonic flutter characteristics of two 72 deg-sweep delta-wing models

    Science.gov (United States)

    Doggett, Robert V., Jr.; Soistmann, David L.; Spain, Charles V.; Parker, Ellen C.; Silva, Walter A.

    1989-01-01

    Transonic flutter boundaries are presented for two simple, 72 deg. sweep, low-aspect-ratio wing models. One model was an aspect-ratio 0.65 delta wing; the other model was an aspect-ratio 0.54 clipped-delta wing. Flutter boundaries for the delta wing are presented for the Mach number range of 0.56 to 1.22. Flutter boundaries for the clipped-delta wing are presented for the Mach number range of 0.72 to 0.95. Selected vibration characteristics of the models are also presented.

  11. Unsteady Flow Interactions Between Pitching Wings In Schooling Arrangements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kurt, Melike; Moored, Keith

    2017-11-01

    In nature, many fish aggregate into large groups or schools for protection against predators, for social interactions and to save energy during migrations. Regardless of their prime motivation, fish experience three-dimensional flow interactions amongst themselves that can improve or hamper swimming performance and give rise to fluid-mediated forces between individuals. To date, the unsteady, three-dimensional flow interactions among schooling fish remains relatively unexplored. In order to study these interactions, the caudal fins of two interacting fish are idealized as two finite span pitching wings arranged in mixtures of canonical in-line and side-by-side arrangements. The forces and moments acting on the wings in the streamwise and cross-stream directions are quantified as the arrangement and the phase delay between the wings is altered. Particle image velocimetry is employed to characterize the flow physics during high efficiency locomotion. Finally, the forces and flowfields of two-dimensional pitching wings are compared with three-dimensional wings to distinguish how three-dimensionality alters the flow interactions in schools of fish.

  12. Transonic Aerodynamic Loading Characteristics of a Wing-Body-Tail Combination Having a 52.5 deg. Sweptback Wing of Aspect Ratio 3 With Conical Wing Camber and Body Indentation for a Design Mach Number of Square Root of 2

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cassetti, Marlowe D.; Re, Richard J.; Igoe, William B.

    1961-01-01

    An investigation has been made of the effects of conical wing camber and body indentation according to the supersonic area rule on the aerodynamic wing loading characteristics of a wing-body-tail configuration at transonic speeds. The wing aspect ratio was 3, taper ratio was 0.1, and quarter-chord-line sweepback was 52.5 deg. with 3-percent-thick airfoil sections. The tests were conducted in the Langley 16-foot transonic tunnel at Mach numbers from 0.80 to 1.05 and at angles of attack from 0 deg. to 14 deg., with Reynolds numbers based on mean aerodynamic chord varying from 7 x 10(exp 6) to 8 x 10(exp 6). Conical camber delayed wing-tip stall and reduced the severity of the accompanying longitudinal instability but did not appreciably affect the spanwise load distribution at angles of attack below tip stall. Body indentation reduced the transonic chordwise center-of-pressure travel from about 8 percent to 5 percent of the mean aerodynamic chord.

  13. Efficient digitalization method for dental restorations using micro-CT data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Changhwan; Baek, Seung Hoon; Lee, Taewon; Go, Jonggun; Kim, Sun Young; Cho, Seungryong

    2017-03-15

    The objective of this study was to demonstrate the feasibility of using micro-CT scan of dental impressions for fabricating dental restorations and to compare the dimensional accuracy of dental models generated from various methods. The key idea of the proposed protocol is that dental impression of patients can be accurately digitized by micro-CT scan and that one can make digital cast model from micro-CT data directly. As air regions of the micro-CT scan data of dental impression are equivalent to the real teeth and surrounding structures, one can segment the air regions and fabricate digital cast model in the STL format out of them. The proposed method was validated by a phantom study using a typodont with prepared teeth. Actual measurement and deviation map analysis were performed after acquiring digital cast models for each restoration methods. Comparisons of the milled restorations were also performed by placing them on the prepared teeth of typodont. The results demonstrated that an efficient fabrication of precise dental restoration is achievable by use of the proposed method.

  14. Efficient digitalization method for dental restorations using micro-CT data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Changhwan; Baek, Seung Hoon; Lee, Taewon; Go, Jonggun; Kim, Sun Young; Cho, Seungryong

    2017-03-01

    The objective of this study was to demonstrate the feasibility of using micro-CT scan of dental impressions for fabricating dental restorations and to compare the dimensional accuracy of dental models generated from various methods. The key idea of the proposed protocol is that dental impression of patients can be accurately digitized by micro-CT scan and that one can make digital cast model from micro-CT data directly. As air regions of the micro-CT scan data of dental impression are equivalent to the real teeth and surrounding structures, one can segment the air regions and fabricate digital cast model in the STL format out of them. The proposed method was validated by a phantom study using a typodont with prepared teeth. Actual measurement and deviation map analysis were performed after acquiring digital cast models for each restoration methods. Comparisons of the milled restorations were also performed by placing them on the prepared teeth of typodont. The results demonstrated that an efficient fabrication of precise dental restoration is achievable by use of the proposed method.

  15. MICRO AUTO GASIFICATION SYSTEM: EMISSIONS CHARACTERIZATION

    Science.gov (United States)

    A compact, CONEX-housed waste to energy unit, Micro Auto Gasification System (MAGS), was characterized for air emissions from burning of military waste types. The MAGS unit is a dual chamber gasifier with a secondary diesel-fired combustor. Eight tests were conducted with multipl...

  16. Falling with Style: Bats Perform Complex Aerial Rotations by Adjusting Wing Inertia.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Attila J Bergou

    Full Text Available The remarkable maneuverability of flying animals results from precise movements of their highly specialized wings. Bats have evolved an impressive capacity to control their flight, in large part due to their ability to modulate wing shape, area, and angle of attack through many independently controlled joints. Bat wings, however, also contain many bones and relatively large muscles, and thus the ratio of bats' wing mass to their body mass is larger than it is for all other extant flyers. Although the inertia in bat wings would typically be associated with decreased aerial maneuverability, we show that bat maneuvers challenge this notion. We use a model-based tracking algorithm to measure the wing and body kinematics of bats performing complex aerial rotations. Using a minimal model of a bat with only six degrees of kinematic freedom, we show that bats can perform body rolls by selectively retracting one wing during the flapping cycle. We also show that this maneuver does not rely on aerodynamic forces, and furthermore that a fruit fly, with nearly massless wings, would not exhibit this effect. Similar results are shown for a pitching maneuver. Finally, we combine high-resolution kinematics of wing and body movements during landing and falling maneuvers with a 52-degree-of-freedom dynamical model of a bat to show that modulation of wing inertia plays the dominant role in reorienting the bat during landing and falling maneuvers, with minimal contribution from aerodynamic forces. Bats can, therefore, use their wings as multifunctional organs, capable of sophisticated aerodynamic and inertial dynamics not previously observed in other flying animals. This may also have implications for the control of aerial robotic vehicles.

  17. Tests of Nacelle-Propeller Combinations in Various Positions with Reference to Wings V : Clark Y Biplane Cellule - NACA Cowled Nacelle - Tractor Propeller

    Science.gov (United States)

    Valentine, E Floyd

    1935-01-01

    This report is the fifth of a series giving the results obtained from wind tunnel tests on the interference drag and propulsive efficiency of nacelle-propeller-wing combinations. This report gives results of tests of an NACA cowled air-cooled engine nacelle with tractor propeller located in 12 positions with reference to a Clark Y biplane cellule.

  18. Aerodynamic Classification of Swept-Wing Ice Accretion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Diebold, Jeff M.; Broeren, Andy P.; Bragg, Michael B.

    2013-01-01

    The continued design, certification and safe operation of swept-wing airplanes in icing conditions rely on the advancement of computational and experimental simulation methods for higher fidelity results over an increasing range of aircraft configurations and performance, and icing conditions. The current stateof- the-art in icing aerodynamics is mainly built upon a comprehensive understanding of two-dimensional geometries that does not currently exist for fundamentally three-dimensional geometries such as swept wings. The purpose of this report is to describe what is known of iced-swept-wing aerodynamics and to identify the type of research that is required to improve the current understanding. Following the method used in a previous review of iced-airfoil aerodynamics, this report proposes a classification of swept-wing ice accretion into four groups based upon unique flowfield attributes. These four groups are: ice roughness, horn ice, streamwise ice and spanwise-ridge ice. In the case of horn ice it is shown that a further subclassification of "nominally 3D" or "highly 3D" horn ice may be necessary. For all of the proposed ice-shape classifications, relatively little is known about the three-dimensional flowfield and even less about the effect of Reynolds number and Mach number on these flowfields. The classifications and supporting data presented in this report can serve as a starting point as new research explores swept-wing aerodynamics with ice shapes. As further results are available, it is expected that these classifications will need to be updated and revised.

  19. Thermal separation of soil particles from thermal conductivity measurement under various air pressures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lu, Sen; Ren, Tusheng; Lu, Yili; Meng, Ping; Zhang, Jinsong

    2017-01-05

    The thermal conductivity of dry soils is related closely to air pressure and the contact areas between solid particles. In this study, the thermal conductivity of two-phase soil systems was determined under reduced and increased air pressures. The thermal separation of soil particles, i.e., the characteristic dimension of the pore space (d), was then estimated based on the relationship between soil thermal conductivity and air pressure. Results showed that under both reduced and increased air pressures, d estimations were significantly larger than the geometrical mean separation of solid particles (D), which suggested that conductive heat transfer through solid particles dominated heat transfer in dry soils. The increased air pressure approach gave d values lower than that of the reduced air pressure method. With increasing air pressure, more collisions between gas molecules and solid surface occurred in micro-pores and intra-aggregate pores due to the reduction of mean free path of air molecules. Compared to the reduced air pressure approach, the increased air pressure approach expressed more micro-pore structure attributes in heat transfer. We concluded that measuring thermal conductivity under increased air pressure procedures gave better-quality d values, and improved soil micro-pore structure estimation.

  20. Gliding Swifts Attain Laminar Flow over Rough Wings

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Lentink, D.; Kat, de R.

    2014-01-01

    Swifts are among the most aerodynamically refined gliding birds. However, the overlapping vanes and protruding shafts of their primary feathers make swift wings remarkably rough for their size. Wing roughness height is 1–2% of chord length on the upper surface—10,000 times rougher than sailplane

  1. Preliminary results for X-ray phase contrast micro-tomography on the biomedical imaging beamline at SSRF

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen Rongchang; Du Guohao; Xie Honglan; Deng Biao; Tong Yajun; Hu Wen; Xue Yanling; Chen Can; Ren Yuqi; Zhou Guangzhao; Wang Yudan; Xiao Tiqiao; Xu Hongjie; Zhu Peiping

    2009-01-01

    With X-ray phase contrast micro-tomography(CT), one is able to obtain edge-enhanced image of internal structure of the samples. This allows visualization of the fine internal features for biology tissues, which is not able to resolve by conventional absorption CT. After preliminary modulation, monochromatic X-rays (8-72.5 keV) are available for experiments on the experimental station of the biomedical imaging beamline at Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility(SSRF). In this paper, we report the in line phase contrast micro-tomography(IL-XPCT) of biology sample (locust) on the beamline. The reconstruct slice images and three dimensional rendering images of the locust were obtained, with clearly visible images of locus's wing, surface texture and internal tissue distribution. (authors)

  2. The research on wing sail of a land-yacht robot

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shaorong Xie

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available A wind-driven land-yacht robot which will be applied in polar expedition is presented in this article. As the main power of robot is provided by wing sail, improving the efficiency of wing sail is the key for its motion. Wing sail is composed of airfoil, so airfoil theory is researched first, and then several airfoils and their aerodynamic performance are compared, and a high-efficiency airfoil is selected. After that, overturning torque and start wind speed of robot are analyzed to determine the size of the wing sail. At last, the wing sail is manufactured and checked, and it is tested by start wind speed experiments, running speed experiments, steering motion, and obstacle avoidance experiments. The minimum start wind speed is 6 m/s. When wind speed is 10.3 m/s and angle of attack is 90°, running velocity of robot is 1.285 m/s. A land-yacht robot can run steering motion well and avoid obstacle to the target. The result shows that wing sail satisfies the motion requirement of land-yacht robot.

  3. Patterning of a compound eye on an extinct dipteran wing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dinwiddie, April; Rachootin, Stan

    2011-04-23

    We have discovered unexpected similarities between a novel and characteristic wing organ in an extinct biting midge from Baltic amber, Eohelea petrunkevitchi, and the surface of a dipteran's compound eye. Scanning electron microscope images now reveal vestigial mechanoreceptors between the facets of the organ. We interpret Eohelea's wing organ as the blending of these two developmental systems: the formation and patterning of the cuticle in the eye and of the wing. Typically, only females in the genus carry this distinctive, highly organized structure. Two species were studied (E. petrunkevitchi and E. sinuosa), and the structure differs in form between them. We examine Eohelea's wing structures for modes of fabrication, material properties and biological functions, and the effective ecological environment in which these midges lived. We argue that the current view of the wing organ's function in stridulation has been misconstrued since it was described half a century ago.

  4. Evolutionary constraints in hind wing shape in Chinese dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeinae.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ming Bai

    Full Text Available This study examines the evolution hindwing shape in Chinese dung beetle species using morphometric and phylogenetic analyses. Previous studies have analyzed the evolution of wing shape within a single or very few species, or by comparing only a few wing traits. No study has analyzed wing shape evolution of a large number of species, or quantitatively compared morphological variation of wings with proposed phylogenetic relationships. This study examines the morphological variation of hindwings based on 19 landmarks, 119 morphological characters, and 81 beetle species. Only one most parsimonious tree (MPT was found based on 119 wing and body characters. To better understand the possible role of the hindwing in the evolution of Scarabaeinae, additional phylogenetic analyses were proposed based on the only body features (106 characters, wing characters excluded. Two MPT were found based on 106 body characters, and five nodes were collapsed in a strict consensus. There was a strong correlation between the morphometric tree and all phylogenetic trees (r>0.5. Reconstructions of the ancestral wing forms suggest that Scarabaeinae hindwing morphology has not changed substantially over time, but the morphological changes that do occur are focused at the base of the wing. These results suggest that flight has been important since the origin of Scarabaeinae, and that variation in hindwing morphology has been limited by functional constraints. Comparison of metric disparity values and relative evolutionary sequences among Scarabaeinae tribes suggest that the primitive dung beetles had relatively diverse hindwing morphologies, while advanced dung beetles have relatively similar wing morphologies. The strong correlation between the morphometric tree and phylogenetic trees suggest that hindwing features reflect the evolution of whole body morphology and that wing characters are suitable for the phylogenetic analyses. By integrating morphometric and cladistic

  5. PERANCANGAN SISTEM TELE-NAVIGATION PADA PESAWAT TANPA AWAK (MICRO UAV

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Agus Basukesti

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available Sistem navigasi pada pengoperasian pesawat tanpa awak (Micro UAV saat ini terdapat 2 cara yaitu dengan cara pandangan manual (line of sight dan sistem autopilot. Sistem navigasi line of sight memiliki kelemahan jangkauan pesawat tanpa awak hanya pada radius 200 meter karena keterbatasan penglihatan dari pengendali. Metode autopilot adalah metode kendali pesawat dengan algoritma lock position and homing. Sistem autopilot bekerja dengan cara mencari koordinat posisi yang dituju kemudian kembali ke lokasi awal. Keunggulan teknologi ini adalah pesawat dapat menjangkau jarak yang cukup jauh. Akan tetapi metode ini memiliki kelemahan yaitu pesawat harus terbang tinggi dan pesawat belum bisa menghindari halangan seperti gedung pencakar langit maupun pepohonan tinggi. Dalam penelitian ini dirancang sebuah sistem tele-navigasi yang merupakan modifikasi sistem navigasi line of sight dan autopilot sehingga dapat menutupi kelemahan dari masing masing metode navigasi yang ada saat ini. metode penelitian yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah metode eksperimen yaitu dengan membuat pilot plan sistem Tele-navigasi yang selanjutnya akan diuji dengan pesawat tanpa awak (micro UAV jenis flying wing. Metode dokumentasi dan metode studi pustaka juga digunakan untuk melengkapi data teknis alat yang digunakan sehingga dapat dilakukan analisis mendalam terhadap performa alat yang dirancang. Kata kunci: line of sight, lock position and homing, autopilot, micro UAV.

  6. Integration of wings and their eyespots in the speckled wood butterfly Pararge aegeria.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Breuker, Casper J; Gibbs, Melanie; Van Dyck, Hans; Brakefield, Paul M; Klingenberg, Christian Peter; Van Dongen, Stefan

    2007-07-15

    We investigated both the phenotypic and developmental integration of eyespots on the fore- and hindwings of speckled wood butterflies Pararge aegeria. Eyespots develop within a framework of wing veins, which may not only separate eyespots developmentally, but may at the same time also integrate them by virtue of being both signalling sources and barriers during eyespot development. We therefore specifically investigated the interaction between wing venation patterns and eyespot integration. Phenotypic covariation among eyespots was very high, but only eyespots in neighbouring wing cells and in homologous wing cells on different wing surfaces were developmentally integrated. This can be explained by the fact that the wing cells of these eyespots share one or more wing veins. The wing venation patterns of fore- and hindwings were highly integrated, both phenotypically and developmentally. This did not affect overall developmental integration of the eyespots. The adaptive significance of integration patterns is discussed and more specifically we stress the need to conduct studies on phenotypic plasticity of integration.

  7. Computational Optimization of a Natural Laminar Flow Experimental Wing Glove

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hartshom, Fletcher

    2012-01-01

    Computational optimization of a natural laminar flow experimental wing glove that is mounted on a business jet is presented and discussed. The process of designing a laminar flow wing glove starts with creating a two-dimensional optimized airfoil and then lofting it into a three-dimensional wing glove section. The airfoil design process does not consider the three dimensional flow effects such as cross flow due wing sweep as well as engine and body interference. Therefore, once an initial glove geometry is created from the airfoil, the three dimensional wing glove has to be optimized to ensure that the desired extent of laminar flow is maintained over the entire glove. TRANAIR, a non-linear full potential solver with a coupled boundary layer code was used as the main tool in the design and optimization process of the three-dimensional glove shape. The optimization process uses the Class-Shape-Transformation method to perturb the geometry with geometric constraints that allow for a 2-in clearance from the main wing. The three-dimensional glove shape was optimized with the objective of having a spanwise uniform pressure distribution that matches the optimized two-dimensional pressure distribution as closely as possible. Results show that with the appropriate inputs, the optimizer is able to match the two dimensional pressure distributions practically across the entire span of the wing glove. This allows for the experiment to have a much higher probability of having a large extent of natural laminar flow in flight.

  8. A micro-gap, air-filled ionisation chamber as a detector for criticality accident dosimetry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Murawski, I.; Zielczynski, M.; Gryzinski, M.A.; Golnik, N.

    2014-01-01

    A micro-gap air-filled ionisation chamber was designed for criticality dosimetry. The special feature of the chamber is its very small gap between electrodes of only 0.3 mm. This prevents ion recombination at high dose rates and minimises the influence of gas on secondary particles spectrum. The electrodes are made of polypropylene because of higher content of hydrogen in this material, when compared with soft tissue. The difference between neutron and gamma sensitivity in such chamber becomes practically negligible. The chamber's envelope contains two specially connected capacitors, one for polarising the electrodes and the other for collecting the ionisation charge. Air-filled ionisation chamber with very small gap is a simple dosemeter, which fulfills the most desired properties of criticality accident dosemeters. Short ion collection time is achieved by combination of small gap and relatively high polarising voltage. For the same reason, parasitic recombination of ions in the chamber is negligibly small even at high dose rates. The difference between neutron and gamma sensitivity is small for tissue-equivalent chamber and is expected to become practically negligible when the chamber electrodes are made of polypropylene. Additional capacitor provides a broad measuring range from ∼0.1 Gy up to ∼25 Gy; however, leakage of electrical charge from polarising capacitor has to be observed and taken into account. Periodical re-charging of the device is necessary. Obviously, final test of the device in conditions simulating criticality accident is needed and will be performed as soon as available. (authors)

  9. Waterproof and translucent wings at the same time: problems and solutions in butterflies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goodwyn, Pablo Perez; Maezono, Yasunori; Hosoda, Naoe; Fujisaki, Kenji

    2009-07-01

    Although the colour of butterflies attracts the most attention, the waterproofing properties of their wings are also extremely interesting. Most butterfly wings are considered "super-hydrophobic" because the contact angle (CA) with a water drop exceeds 150 degrees. Usually, butterfly wings are covered with strongly overlapping scales; however, in the case of transparent or translucent wings, scale cover is reduced; thus, the hydrophobicity could be affected. Here, we present a comparative analysis of wing hydrophobicity and its dependence on morphology for two species with translucent wings Parantica sita (Nymphalidae) and Parnassius glacialis (Papilionidae). These species have very different life histories: P. sita lives for up to 6 months as an adult and migrates over long distance, whereas P. glacialis lives for less than 1 month and does not migrate. We measured the water CA and analysed wing morphology with scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. P. sita has super-hydrophobic wing surfaces, with CA > 160 degrees, whereas P. glacialis did not (CA = 100-135 degrees). Specialised scales were found on the translucent portions of P. sita wings. These scales were ovoid and much thinner than common scales, erect at about 30 degrees, and leaving up to 80% of the wing surface uncovered. The underlying bare wing surface had a remarkable pattern of ridges and knobs. P. glacialis also had over 80% of the wing surface uncovered, but the scales were either setae-like or spade-like. The bare surface of the wing had an irregular wavy smooth pattern. We suggest a mode of action that allows this super-hydrophobic effect with an incompletely covered wing surface. The scales bend, but do not collapse, under the pressure of a water droplet, and the elastic recovery of the structure at the borders of the droplet allows a high apparent CA. Thus, P. sita can be translucent without losing its waterproof properties. This characteristic is likely necessary for the long

  10. Static aeroelastic behavior of an adaptive laminated piezoelectric composite wing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weisshaar, T. A.; Ehlers, S. M.

    1990-01-01

    The effect of using an adaptive material to modify the static aeroelastic behavior of a uniform wing is examined. The wing structure is idealized as a laminated sandwich structure with piezoelectric layers in the upper and lower skins. A feedback system that senses the wing root loads applies a constant electric field to the piezoelectric actuator. Modification of pure torsional deformaton behavior and pure bending deformation are investigated, as is the case of an anisotropic composite swept wing. The use of piezoelectric actuators to create an adaptive structure is found to alter static aeroelastic behavior in that the proper choice of the feedback gain can increase or decrease the aeroelastic divergence speed. This concept also may be used to actively change the lift effectiveness of a wing. The ability to modify static aeroelastic behavior is limited by physical limitations of the piezoelectric material and the manner in which it is integrated into the parent structure.

  11. Generation of multi-wing chaotic attractor in fractional order system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang Chaoxia; Yu Simin

    2011-01-01

    Highlights: → We investigate a novel approach for generating multi-wing chaotic attractors. → We introduce a fundamental fractional differential nominal linear system. → A proper nonlinear state feedback controller is designed. → The controlled system can generate fractional-order multi-wing chaotic attractors. - Abstract: In this paper, a novel approach is proposed for generating multi-wing chaotic attractors from the fractional linear differential system via nonlinear state feedback controller equipped with a duality-symmetric multi-segment quadratic function. The main idea is to design a proper nonlinear state feedback controller by using four construction criterions from a fundamental fractional differential nominal linear system, so that the controlled fractional differential system can generate multi-wing chaotic attractors. It is the first time in the literature to report the multi-wing chaotic attractors from an uncoupled fractional differential system. Furthermore, some basic dynamical analysis and numerical simulations are also given, confirming the effectiveness of the proposed method.

  12. Autonomous Micro-Air-Vehicle Control Based on Visual Sensing for Odor Source Localization

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kenzo Kurotsuchi

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, we propose a novel control method for autonomous-odor-source localization using visual and odor sensing by micro air vehicles (MAVs. Our method is based on biomimetics, which enable highly autonomous localization. Our method does not need any instruction signals, including even global positioning system (GPS signals. An experimenter simply blows a whistle, and the MAV will then start to hover, to seek an odor source, and to keep hovering near the source. The GPS-signal-free control based on visual sense enables indoor/underground use. Moreover, the MAV is light-weight (85 grams and does not cause harm to others even if it accidentally falls. Experiments conducted in the real world were successful in enabling odor source localization using the MAV with a bio-inspired searching method. The distance error of the localization was 63 cm, more accurate than the target distance of 120 cm for individual identification. Our odor source localization is the first step to a proof of concept for a danger warning system. These localization experiments were the first step to a proof of concept for a danger warning system to enable a safer and more secure society.

  13. Patterning of a compound eye on an extinct dipteran wing

    OpenAIRE

    Dinwiddie, April; Rachootin, Stan

    2010-01-01

    We have discovered unexpected similarities between a novel and characteristic wing organ in an extinct biting midge from Baltic amber, Eohelea petrunkevitchi, and the surface of a dipteran's compound eye. Scanning electron microscope images now reveal vestigial mechanoreceptors between the facets of the organ. We interpret Eohelea's wing organ as the blending of these two developmental systems: the formation and patterning of the cuticle in the eye and of the wing.

  14. Performance Estimation of Supercritical Co2 Micro Modular Reactor (MMR) for Varying Cooling Air Temperature

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ahn, Yoonhan; Kim, Seong Gu; Cho, Seong Kuk; Lee, Jeong Ik

    2015-01-01

    A Small Modular Reactor (SMR) receives interests for the various application such as electricity co-generation, small-scale power generation, seawater desalination, district heating and propulsion. As a part of SMR development, supercritical CO2 Micro Modular Reactor (MMR) of 36.2MWth in power is under development by the KAIST research team. To enhance the mobility, the entire system including the power conversion system is designed for the full modularization. Based on the preliminary design, the thermal efficiency is 31.5% when CO2 is sufficiently cooled to the design temperature. A supercritical CO2 MMR is designed to supply electricity to the remote regions. The ambient temperature of the area can influence the compressor inlet temperature as the reactor is cooled with the atmospheric air. To estimate the S-CO2 cycle performance for various environmental conditions, A quasi-static analysis code is developed. For the off design performance of S-CO2 turbomachineries, the experimental result of Sandia National Lab (SNL) is utilized

  15. Three-dimensional flow about penguin wings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Noca, Flavio; Sudki, Bassem; Lauria, Michel

    2012-11-01

    Penguins, contrary to airborne birds, do not need to compensate for gravity. Yet, the kinematics of their wings is highly three-dimensional and seems exceedingly complex for plain swimming. Is such kinematics the result of an evolutionary optimization or is it just a forced adaptation of an airborne flying apparatus to underwater swimming? Some answers will be provided based on flow dynamics around robotic penguin wings. Updates will also be presented on the development of a novel robotic arm intended to simulate penguin swimming and enable novel propulsion devices.

  16. Flow structure and aerodynamic performance of a hovering bristled wing in low Re

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Seunghun; Lahooti, Mohsen; Kim, Daegyoum

    2017-11-01

    Previous studies on a bristled wing have mainly focused on simple kinematics of the wing such as translation or rotation. The aerodynamic performance of a bristled wing in a quasi-steady phase is known to be comparable to that of a smooth wing without a gap because shear layers in the gaps of the bristled wing are sufficiently developed to block the gaps. However, we point out that, in the starting transient phase where the shear layers are not fully developed, the force generation of a bristled wing is not as efficient as that of a quasi-steady state. The performance in the transient phase is important to understand the aerodynamics of a bristled wing in an unsteady motion. In the hovering motion, due to repeated stroke reversals, the formation and development of shear layers inside the gaps is repeated in each stroke. In this study, a bristled wing in hovering is numerically investigated in the low Reynolds number of O(10). We especially focus on the development of shear layers during a stroke reversal and its effect on the overall propulsive performance. Although the aerodynamic force generation is slightly reduced due to the gap vortices, the asymmetric behavior of vortices in a gap between bristles during a stroke reversal makes the bristled wing show higher lift to drag ratio than a smooth wing.

  17. High-Throughput Sequencing Identifies MicroRNAs from Posterior Intestine of Loach (Misgurnus anguillicaudatus) and Their Response to Intestinal Air-Breathing Inhibition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Songqian; Cao, Xiaojuan; Tian, Xianchang; Wang, Weimin

    2016-01-01

    MicroRNAs (miRNAs) exert important roles in animal growth, immunity, and development, and regulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. Knowledges about the diversities of miRNAs and their roles in accessory air-breathing organs (ABOs) of fish remain unknown. In this work, we used high-throughput sequencing to identify known and novel miRNAs from the posterior intestine, an important ABO, in loach (Misgurnus anguillicaudatus) under normal and intestinal air-breathing inhibited conditions. A total of 204 known and 84 novel miRNAs were identified, while 47 miRNAs were differentially expressed between the two small RNA libraries (i.e. between the normal and intestinal air-breathing inhibited group). Potential miRNA target genes were predicted by combining our transcriptome data of the posterior intestine of the loach under the same conditions, and then annotated using COG, GO, KEGG, Swissprot and Nr databases. The regulatory networks of miRNAs and their target genes were analyzed. The abundances of nine known miRNAs were validated by qRT-PCR. The relative expression profiles of six known miRNAs and their eight corresponding target genes, and two novel potential miRNAs were also detected. Histological characteristics of the posterior intestines in both normal and air-breathing inhibited group were further analyzed. This study contributes to our understanding on the functions and molecular regulatory mechanisms of miRNAs in accessory air-breathing organs of fish.

  18. High-Throughput Sequencing Identifies MicroRNAs from Posterior Intestine of Loach (Misgurnus anguillicaudatus and Their Response to Intestinal Air-Breathing Inhibition.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Songqian Huang

    Full Text Available MicroRNAs (miRNAs exert important roles in animal growth, immunity, and development, and regulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. Knowledges about the diversities of miRNAs and their roles in accessory air-breathing organs (ABOs of fish remain unknown. In this work, we used high-throughput sequencing to identify known and novel miRNAs from the posterior intestine, an important ABO, in loach (Misgurnus anguillicaudatus under normal and intestinal air-breathing inhibited conditions. A total of 204 known and 84 novel miRNAs were identified, while 47 miRNAs were differentially expressed between the two small RNA libraries (i.e. between the normal and intestinal air-breathing inhibited group. Potential miRNA target genes were predicted by combining our transcriptome data of the posterior intestine of the loach under the same conditions, and then annotated using COG, GO, KEGG, Swissprot and Nr databases. The regulatory networks of miRNAs and their target genes were analyzed. The abundances of nine known miRNAs were validated by qRT-PCR. The relative expression profiles of six known miRNAs and their eight corresponding target genes, and two novel potential miRNAs were also detected. Histological characteristics of the posterior intestines in both normal and air-breathing inhibited group were further analyzed. This study contributes to our understanding on the functions and molecular regulatory mechanisms of miRNAs in accessory air-breathing organs of fish.

  19. The redder the better: wing color predicts flight performance in monarch butterflies.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrew K Davis

    Full Text Available The distinctive orange and black wings of monarchs (Danaus plexippus have long been known to advertise their bitter taste and toxicity to potential predators. Recent work also showed that both the orange and black coloration of this species can vary in response to individual-level and environmental factors. Here we examine the relationship between wing color and flight performance in captive-reared monarchs using a tethered flight mill apparatus to quantify butterfly flight speed, duration and distance. In three different experiments (totaling 121 individuals we used image analysis to measure body size and four wing traits among newly-emerged butterflies prior to flight trials: wing area, aspect ratio (length/width, melanism, and orange hue. Results showed that monarchs with darker orange (approaching red wings flew longer distances than those with lighter orange wings in analyses that controlled for sex and other morphometric traits. This finding is consistent with past work showing that among wild monarchs, those sampled during the fall migration are darker in hue (redder than non-migratory monarchs. Together, these results suggest that pigment deposition onto wing scales during metamorphosis could be linked with traits that influence flight, such as thorax muscle size, energy storage or metabolism. Our results reinforce an association between wing color and flight performance in insects that is suggested by past studies of wing melansim and seasonal polyphenism, and provide an important starting point for work focused on mechanistic links between insect movement and color.

  20. The Redder the Better: Wing Color Predicts Flight Performance in Monarch Butterflies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davis, Andrew K.; Chi, Jean; Bradley, Catherine; Altizer, Sonia

    2012-01-01

    The distinctive orange and black wings of monarchs (Danaus plexippus) have long been known to advertise their bitter taste and toxicity to potential predators. Recent work also showed that both the orange and black coloration of this species can vary in response to individual-level and environmental factors. Here we examine the relationship between wing color and flight performance in captive-reared monarchs using a tethered flight mill apparatus to quantify butterfly flight speed, duration and distance. In three different experiments (totaling 121 individuals) we used image analysis to measure body size and four wing traits among newly-emerged butterflies prior to flight trials: wing area, aspect ratio (length/width), melanism, and orange hue. Results showed that monarchs with darker orange (approaching red) wings flew longer distances than those with lighter orange wings in analyses that controlled for sex and other morphometric traits. This finding is consistent with past work showing that among wild monarchs, those sampled during the fall migration are darker in hue (redder) than non-migratory monarchs. Together, these results suggest that pigment deposition onto wing scales during metamorphosis could be linked with traits that influence flight, such as thorax muscle size, energy storage or metabolism. Our results reinforce an association between wing color and flight performance in insects that is suggested by past studies of wing melansim and seasonal polyphenism, and provide an important starting point for work focused on mechanistic links between insect movement and color. PMID:22848463