Numerical Analysis of a Flapping Elliptic Flat Plate in Hover: A Study of Leading Edge Vortex Dynamics

Author

C. Vivek Nair

Graduation Semester and Year

2017

Language

English

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering

Department

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

First Advisor

Brian Dennis

Abstract

Flapping flight is an area of research that is gaining a lot of prominence in engineering, especially with the increase in interest in applying the flapping mechanism of natural fliers to small scale MAVs. The ongoing contributions to this field include studies finding optimal wing shape, flap frequency, and flap trajectories. Flapping flight is an unsteady aerodynamic mechanism, and consists of 3 interactive forces: delayed stall, rotational circulation, and wake capture. The dominant lift generating mechanism is the leading edge vortex (LEV). Natural fliers optimize their flap to gain maximize LEV stability. For our research we simulate 2 cases of Reynolds number (225 and 500) and find the max circulation of the LEV as a function of an experimental parameter called formation number (FN). For flapping flight FN is defined as the ratio between the stroke length and chord projection. We also conduct a vorticity transport analysis to understand the various flux budgets that contribute to the vorticity during the flap cycle.

Keywords

LEV, Flapping wings, Formation number, Aerodynamics, Vorticity transport, 3D, Hover

Disciplines

Aerospace Engineering | Engineering | Mechanical Engineering

License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

Comments

Degree granted by The University of Texas at Arlington

Recommended Citation

Nair, C. Vivek, "Numerical Analysis of a Flapping Elliptic Flat Plate in Hover: A Study of Leading Edge Vortex Dynamics" (2017). Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses. 956.
https://mavmatrix.uta.edu/mechaerospace_theses/956