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Development, Design, Manufacture and Test of Flapping Wing Micro Aerial Vehicles

Smith, Todd J.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=wright1484659431737526

Abstract Details

2016, Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Wright State University, Engineering PhD.
The field of FlappingWing Micro Air Vehicles (FWMAV) has been of interest in recent years and as shown to have many aerodynamic principles unconventional to traditional aviation aerodynamics. In addition to traditional manufacturing techniques, MAVs have utilized techniques and machines that have gained significant interest and investment over the past decade, namely in additive manufacturing. This dissertation discusses the techniques used to manufacture and build a 30 gram-force (gf) model which approaches the lower limit allowed by current commercial off-the-shelf items. The vehicle utilizes a novel mechanism that minimizes traditional kinematic issues associated with four bar mechanisms for flapping wing vehicles. A kinematic reasoning for large amplitude flapping is demonstrated namely, by lowering the cycle averaged angular acceleration of the wings. The vehicle is tested for control authority and lift of the mechanism using three servo drives for wing manipulation. The study then discusses the wing design, manufacturing techniques and limitations involved with the wings for a FWMAV. A set of 17 different wings are tested for lift reaching lifts of 38 gf using the aforementioned vehicle design. The variation in wings spurs the investigation of the flow patterns generated by the flexible wings and its interactions for multiple flapping amplitudes. Phase-lock particle image velocimetry (PIV) is used to investigate the unsteady flows generated by the vehicle. A novel flow pattern is experimentally found, namely “trailing edge vortex capture” upon wing reversal for all three flapping amplitudes, alluding to a newly discovered addition to the lift enhancing effect of wake capture. This effect is believed to be a result of flexible wings and may provide lift enhancing characteristics to wake capture.
George Huang, Ph.D. (Advisor)
James Menart, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Zifeng Yang, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Richard Cobb, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Michael Oppenheimer, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
186 p.
Mechanical Engineering
FWMAV; MAV; flapping wings; vortex capture; Phase-Lock; PIV; trailing edge vortex capture; vortex capture; flexible wings

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Smith, T. J. (2016). Development, Design, Manufacture and Test of Flapping Wing Micro Aerial Vehicles [Doctoral dissertation, Wright State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=wright1484659431737526

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Smith, Todd. Development, Design, Manufacture and Test of Flapping Wing Micro Aerial Vehicles. 2016. Wright State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=wright1484659431737526.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Smith, Todd. "Development, Design, Manufacture and Test of Flapping Wing Micro Aerial Vehicles." Doctoral dissertation, Wright State University, 2016. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=wright1484659431737526

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

wright1484659431737526
809
© 2016, some rights reserved.Creative Commons License Development, Design, Manufacture and Test of Flapping Wing Micro Aerial Vehicles by Todd J. Smith is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at etd.ohiolink.edu.
This open access ETD is published by Wright State University and OhioLINK.