Modeling and Simulation of the Fluid-Structure Interactions in Passively-Pitching Flapping Wings of Flying Microrobots

We present a study of the dynamics of passive wing-pitching in flapping-wing hovering flight, employing an integrated simulation approach. Here, the motion of a perfectly rigid wing is described using the Euler-Lagrange equation in Kane’s formulation, in which the passive rotating mechanism (flexure hinge) is modeled as a single-axis elastic beam and the total aerodynamic moment is computed by numerically solving the three-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations for the low Reynolds number case using an overset grid method. The proposed approach leads to the formulation of a fluid-structure interaction (FSI) problem, which is solved using an alternating time-marching procedure. The presented integrated simulation approach is validated using experimental data available in the technical literature and the effect of different wing-planform shapes on the resulting aerodynamic efficiency is discussed.