Unsteady aerodynamics and flow control for flapping wing flyers

The creation of micro air vehicles (MAVs) of the same general sizes and weight as natural fliers has spawned renewed interest in flapping wing flight. With a wingspan of approximately 15 cm and a flight speed of a few meters per second, MAVs experience the same low Reynolds number (10⁴–10⁵) flight conditions as their biological counterparts. In this flow regime, rigid fixed wings drop dramatically in aerodynamic performance while flexible flapping wings gain efficacy and are the preferred propulsion method for small natural fliers. Researchers have long realized that steady-state aerodynamics does not properly capture the physical phenomena or forces present in flapping flight at this scale. Hence, unsteady flow mechanisms must dominate this regime. Furthermore, due to the low flight speeds, any disturbance such as gusts or wind will dramatically change the aerodynamic conditions around the MAV. In response, a suitable feedback control system and actuation technology must be developed so that the wing can maintain its aerodynamic efficiency in this extremely dynamic situation; one where the unsteady separated flow field and wing structure are tightly coupled and interact nonlinearly. For instance, birds and bats control their flexible wings with muscle tissue to successfully deal with rapid changes in the flow environment. Drawing from their example, perhaps MAVs can use lightweight actuators in conjunction with adaptive feedback control to shape the wing and achieve active flow control. This article first reviews the scaling laws and unsteady flow regime constraining both biological and man-made fliers. Then a summary of vortex dominated unsteady aerodynamics follows. Next, aeroelastic coupling and its effect on lift and thrust are discussed. Afterwards, flow control strategies found in nature and devised by man to deal with separated flows are examined. Recent work is also presented in using microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) actuators and angular speed variation to achieve active flow control for MAVs. Finally, an explanation for aerodynamic gains seen in flexible versus rigid membrane wings, derived from an unsteady three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics model with an integrated distributed control algorithm, is presented.