Experimental investigation of swept bio-inspired wing planforms

Author

Arnab Chatterjee

Date of Award

2022

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Engineering (MSE)

Department

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Committee Chair

Chang-kwon Kang

Committee Member

Konstantinos Kanistras

Committee Member

Farbod Fahimi

Subject(s)

Micro air vehicles--Wings--Design and construction, Biomimicry, Apus apus

Abstract

The aerodynamic efficiency of the Swift (Apus Apus) and its resultant wing morphology merit further study for applications towards micro aerial vehicles (MAVs). Three bio-inspired wing planforms form the focus of this study to investigate the impact of sweep and spanwise chord variation on their local flow physics. The suction side flow characteristics are investigated using 2D particle image velocimetry (at Re = 4.0 × 10⁴ and 6.0 × 10⁴) to identify the effects induced by the planform geometry, followed by direct force measurements (at Re = 6.0 × 10⁴) to correlate the observed flow dynamics to the measured lift and drag force contributions. The trailing wake observation is further conducted for the two wing geometries (at Re = 1.0 × 10⁵) with identical span and area to determine changes associated with the downstream location and observe the development of the trailing wingtip vortex.

Recommended Citation

Chatterjee, Arnab, "Experimental investigation of swept bio-inspired wing planforms" (2022). Theses. 400.
https://louis.uah.edu/uah-theses/400