Bat flight generates complex aerodynamic tracks
Author
Summary, in English
The flapping flight of animals generates an aerodynamic footprint as a time-varying vortex wake in which the rate of momentum change represents the aerodynamic force. We showed that the wakes of a small bat species differ from those of birds in some important respects. In our bats, each wing generated its own vortex loop. Also, at moderate and high flight speeds, the circulation on the outer ( hand) wing and the arm wing differed in sign during the upstroke, resulting in negative lift on the hand wing and positive lift on the arm wing. Our interpretations of the unsteady aerodynamic performance and function of membranous-winged, flapping flight should change modeling strategies for the study of equivalent natural and engineered flying devices.
Department/s
Publishing year
2007
Language
English
Pages
894-897
Publication/Series
Science
Volume
316
Issue
5826
Document type
Journal article
Publisher
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Topic
- Biological Sciences
Status
Published
Research group
- Animal Flight Lab
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 1095-9203