Actuator disk model and span efficiency of flapping flight in bats based on time-resolved PIV measurements

Summary, in English

All animals flap their wings in powered flight to provide both lift and thrust, yet few human-engineered designs do so. When combined with flexible wing surfaces, the resulting unsteady fluid flows and interactions in flapping flight can be complex to describe, understand, and model. Here, a simple modified actuator disk is used in a quasi-steady description of the net aerodynamic lift forces on several species of bat whose wakes are measured with time-resolved PIV. The model appears to capture the time-averaged and instantaneous lift forces on the wings and body, and could be used as basis for comparing flapping flight efficiency of different animal species and micro air vehicle designs.

• Author: Florian Muijres; G.R. Spedding; York Winter; Anders Hedenström
• Department/s: Evolutionary ecology; Animal Flight Lab
• Publishing year: 2011
• Language: English
• Pages: 511-525
• Publication/Series: Experiments in Fluids
• Volume: 51
• Links: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00348-011-1067-5
• Document type: Journal article
• Publisher: Springer
• Topic: Biological Sciences
• Status: Published
• Research group: Animal Flight Lab
• ISBN/ISSN/Other: ISSN: 1432-1114