Flapping flight with flexible wings that twist, bend and morph is a hallmark of aerial locomotion in animals, but achieving biological levels of aerial performance in micro-aerial vehicles (MAVs) with human-designed wings has proven elusive. The PIs will study the role of wing deformation and flexibility on the aerodynamics and flight characteristics of insects using butterflies as the insect models to study the impact of wing deformation and flexibility on insect flight aerodynamics. Butterflies are large insects with highly deformable wings that show a variety of flight behaviors and as such, are good models for this study. The proposed research has three main components. The first is Insect flight studies using high-speed, high resolution digital videogrammetry techniques to extract the detailed wing and body kinematics, motions and accelerations of butterflies in free flight. The second is parameterization of butterfly wing structure and development of validated wing finite-element models coupled to a computational fluid dynamics solver. Finally, computational modeling and analysis of butterfly flight including analysis of level and climbing flight, flight maneuvers as well as active and passive deformation of the wings are planned. This study will significantly advance our understanding of subtle aerodynamic effects related to wing deformation and flexibility in insects that are not addressed to date. The PIs also expect to advance computational modeling of these complex flows using high fidelity computational modeling in tight coordination with biological investigations to extract fundamental insight into flapping flight. A significant portion of the research relating to insect flight studies and structural parameterization will be carried out by undergraduate students. These students will have a chance to work in a multidisciplinary team addressing issues in biology, fluid mechanics, structural dynamics, experimental testing and computational modeling. The topic of insect flight is one that easily catches the interest of students of all levels, and the PIs will leverage this to conduct annual outreach activities with area magnet high schools and schools in the District of Columbia.
