Formulae for Insect Wingbeat Frequency
نویسنده
چکیده
A formula is developed connecting the wingbeat frequency of insects with their masses and wing areas. It is derived first theoretically, using dimensional analysis, and then it is compared with published measurements. The formula discovered involves two parameters which dimensional analysis alone cannot determine. One of these is evaluated using one among many proposed semi-empirical relationships (the only one that stands scrutiny); the other by fitting a published dataset. It is found that the resulting equation, applying to insects in general, accords well with observation, and indeed is very close to being optimal (in a sense to be defined).
منابع مشابه
Floquet stability analysis of the longitudinal dynamics of two hovering model insects.
Because of the periodically varying aerodynamic and inertial forces of the flapping wings, a hovering or constant-speed flying insect is a cyclically forcing system, and, generally, the flight is not in a fixed-point equilibrium, but in a cyclic-motion equilibrium. Current stability theory of insect flight is based on the averaged model and treats the flight as a fixed-point equilibrium. In the...
متن کاملResonance frequencies of honeybee (Apis mellifera) wings.
During flight, insect wings bend and twist under the influence of aerodynamic and inertial forces. We tested whether wing resonance of honeybees (Apis mellifera) matches the wingbeat frequency, against the 'stiff element' hypothesis that the wing's first longitudinal mode exceeds the wingbeat frequency. Six bees were immobilized with their right wing pair outspread, and stimulated with a shaker...
متن کاملDynamic flight stability in the desert locust Schistocerca gregaria.
Here we provide the first formal quantitative analysis of dynamic stability in a flying animal. By measuring the longitudinal static stability derivatives and mass distribution of desert locusts Schistocerca gregaria, we find that their static stability and static control responses are insufficient to provide asymptotic longitudinal dynamic stability unless they are sensitive to pitch attitude ...
متن کاملWingbeat frequency of birds in steady cruising flight: new data and improved predictions
Wingbeat frequencies of 15 species of birds, observed in the field in level, cruising flight were compared with predicted frequencies, calculated according to the formula derived from an earlier sample of 32 species. All of the data were collected by the author, using the same methods throughout. The new observations were predicted well for species with low wingbeat frequencies, but were undere...
متن کاملNonlinear flight dynamics and stability of hovering model insects.
Current analyses on insect dynamic flight stability are based on linear theory and limited to small disturbance motions. However, insects' aerial environment is filled with swirling eddies and wind gusts, and large disturbances are common. Here, we numerically solve the equations of motion coupled with the Navier-Stokes equations to simulate the large disturbance motions and analyse the nonline...
متن کامل