scholarly journals Unsteady dynamics of rapid perching manoeuvres

2015 ◽  
Vol 767 ◽  
pp. 323-341 ◽  
Author(s):  
Delyle T. Polet ◽  
David E. Rival ◽  
Gabriel D. Weymouth

AbstractA perching bird is able to rapidly decelerate while maintaining lift and control, but the underlying aerodynamic mechanism is poorly understood. In this work we perform a study on a simultaneously decelerating and pitching aerofoil section to increase our understanding of the unsteady aerodynamics of perching. We first explore the problem analytically, developing expressions for the added-mass and circulatory forces arising from boundary-layer separation on a flat-plate aerofoil. Next, we study the model problem through a detailed series of experiments at $\mathit{Re}=22\,000$ and two-dimensional simulations at $\mathit{Re}=2000$. Simulated vorticity fields agree with particle image velocimetry measurements, showing the same wake features and vorticity magnitudes. Peak lift and drag forces during rapid perching are measured to be more than 10 times the quasi-steady values. The majority of these forces can be attributed to added-mass energy transfer between the fluid and aerofoil, and to energy lost to the fluid by flow separation at the leading and trailing edges. Thus, despite the large angles of attack and decreasing flow velocity, this simple pitch-up manoeuvre provides a means through which a perching bird can maintain high lift and drag simultaneously while slowing to a controlled stop.

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (55) ◽  
pp. eabe2922
Author(s):  
Nicholas D. Naclerio ◽  
Andras Karsai ◽  
Mason Murray-Cooper ◽  
Yasemin Ozkan-Aydin ◽  
Enes Aydin ◽  
...  

Robotic navigation on land, through air, and in water is well researched; numerous robots have successfully demonstrated motion in these environments. However, one frontier for robotic locomotion remains largely unexplored—below ground. Subterranean navigation is simply hard to do, in part because the interaction forces of underground motion are higher than in air or water by orders of magnitude and because we lack for these interactions a robust fundamental physics understanding. We present and test three hypotheses, derived from biological observation and the physics of granular intrusion, and use the results to inform the design of our burrowing robot. These results reveal that (i) tip extension reduces total drag by an amount equal to the skin drag of the body, (ii) granular aeration via tip-based airflow reduces drag with a nonlinear dependence on depth and flow angle, and (iii) variation of the angle of the tip-based flow has a nonmonotonic effect on lift in granular media. Informed by these results, we realize a steerable, root-like soft robot that controls subterranean lift and drag forces to burrow faster than previous approaches by over an order of magnitude and does so through real sand. We also demonstrate that the robot can modulate its pullout force by an order of magnitude and control its direction of motion in both the horizontal and vertical planes to navigate around subterranean obstacles. Our results advance the understanding and capabilities of robotic subterranean locomotion.


Author(s):  
T Lee ◽  
V Tremblay-Dionne ◽  
LS Ko

The ground effect on the lift and drag forces and vortices generated by a slender reverse delta wing with different anhedrals was investigated experimentally. The study was inspired by the Lippisch-type RFB X-114 WIG (wing-in-ground effect) craft for which a reverse delta wing planform with anhedral was employed. The results show that, by positioning the trailing edges of the anhedraled reverse delta wing parallel to the ground, the lift and drag coefficients were found to increase persistently with increasing anhedral as the ground was approached (for ground distances within 40% chord). The observed lift augmentation was also accompanied by an ever-increasing rotational speed and total circulation of the vortices generated by the anhedraled wing. The vortices were also found to be displaced more outboard as the ground was approached, which further suggests their little relevance to the lift generation of the anhedraled reverse delta wing.


Symmetry ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 828
Author(s):  
Igor Rodriguez-Eguia ◽  
Iñigo Errasti ◽  
Unai Fernandez-Gamiz ◽  
Jesús María Blanco ◽  
Ekaitz Zulueta ◽  
...  

Trailing edge flaps (TEFs) are high-lift devices that generate changes in the lift and drag coefficients of an airfoil. A large number of 2D simulations are performed in this study, in order to measure these changes in aerodynamic coefficients and to analyze them for a given Reynolds number. Three different airfoils, namely NACA 0012, NACA 64(3)-618, and S810, are studied in relation to three combinations of the following parameters: angle of attack, flap angle (deflection), and flaplength. Results are in concordance with the aerodynamic results expected when studying a TEF on an airfoil, showing the effect exerted by the three parameters on both aerodynamic coefficients lift and drag. Depending on whether the airfoil flap is deployed on either the pressure zone or the suction zone, the lift-to-drag ratio, CL/CD, will increase or decrease, respectively. Besides, the use of a larger flap length will increase the higher values and decrease the lower values of the CL/CD ratio. In addition, an artificial neural network (ANN) based prediction model for aerodynamic forces was built through the results obtained from the research.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 14
Author(s):  
Gianluca Zitti ◽  
Nico Novelli ◽  
Maurizio Brocchini

Over the last decades, the aquaculture sector increased significantly and constantly, moving fish-farm plants further from the coast, and exposing them to increasingly high forces due to currents and waves. The performances of cages in currents and waves have been widely studied in literature, by means of laboratory experiments and numerical models, but virtually all the research is focused on the global performances of the system, i.e., on the maximum displacement, the volume reduction or the mooring tension. In this work we propose a numerical model, derived from the net-truss model of Kristiansen and Faltinsen (2012), to study the dynamics of fish farm cages in current and waves. In this model the net is modeled with straight trusses connecting nodes, where the mass of the net is concentrated at the nodes. The deformation of the net is evaluated solving the equation of motion of the nodes, subjected to gravity, buoyancy, lift, and drag forces. With respect to the original model, the elasticity of the net is included. In this work the real size of the net is used for the computation mesh grid, this allowing the numerical model to reproduce the exact dynamics of the cage. The numerical model is used to simulate a cage with fixed rings, based on the concept of mooring the cage to the foundation of no longer functioning offshore structures. The deformations of the system subjected to currents and waves are studied.


2001 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 312-330 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernard Harper ◽  
Richard Latto

Stereo scene capture and generation is an important facet of presence research in that stereoscopic images have been linked to naturalness as a component of reported presence. Three-dimensional images can be captured and presented in many ways, but it is rare that the most simple and “natural” method is used: full orthostereoscopic image capture and projection. This technique mimics as closely as possible the geometry of the human visual system and uses convergent axis stereography with the cameras separated by the human interocular distance. It simulates human viewing angles, magnification, and convergences so that the point of zero disparity in the captured scene is reproduced without disparity in the display. In a series of experiments, we have used this technique to investigate body image distortion in photographic images. Three psychophysical experiments compared size, weight, or shape estimations (perceived waist-hip ratio) in 2-D and 3-D images for the human form and real or virtual abstract shapes. In all cases, there was a relative slimming effect of binocular disparity. A well-known photographic distortion is the perspective flattening effect of telephoto lenses. A fourth psychophysical experiment using photographic portraits taken at different distances found a fattening effect with telephoto lenses and a slimming effect with wide-angle lenses. We conclude that, where possible, photographic inputs to the visual system should allow it to generate the cyclopean point of view by which we normally see the world. This is best achieved by viewing images made with full orthostereoscopic capture and display geometry. The technique can result in more-accurate estimations of object shape or size and control of ocular suppression. These are assets that have particular utility in the generation of realistic virtual environments.


1987 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 200-207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vahid Majidi ◽  
David M. Coleman

A series of experiments, designed to help characterize the behavior of an analytical spark discharge in an external pulsed magnetic field, is described. Results include controlled formation and deformation of a spark's post-discharge torus utilizing different magnetic field configurations. One manifestation of this research was discovery of a new filamentary structure which extends from the spark conducting channel to the magnet pole face(s). These features were investigated via their refracted light (Schlieren) and spectroscopic (time/space/wavelength-resolved) properties. Practical ramifications of this control are discussed.


1993 ◽  
Vol 183 (1) ◽  
pp. 217-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Sunada ◽  
K. Kawachi ◽  
I. Watanabe ◽  
A. Azuma

A series of experiments on three-dimensional ‘near fling’ was carried out. Two pairs of plates, rectangular and triangular, were selected, and the distance between the rotation axes of the two plates of each pair was varied. The motion of the plates as well as the forces and the moment were measured, and the interference between the two plates of a pair was studied. In addition, a method of numerical calculation was developed to aid in the understanding of the experimental results. The interference between the two plates of a pair, which acted to increase both the added mass of each plate and the hydrodynamic force due to dynamic pressure, was noted only when the opening angle between the plates was small. The hydrodynamic forces were strongly influenced by separated vortices that occurred during the rotation. A method of numerical calculation, which took into account the effect both of interference between the plates and of separated vortices, was developed to give adequate accuracy in analyzing beating wings in ‘near fling’.


Author(s):  
Oktay Baysal ◽  
Terry L. Meek

Since the goal of racing is to win and since drag is a force that the vehicle must overcome, a thorough understanding of the drag generating airflow around and through a race car is greatly desired. The external airflow contributes to most of the drag that a car experiences and most of the downforce the vehicle produces. Therefore, an estimate of the vehicle’s performance may be evaluated using a computational fluid dynamics model. First, a computer model of the race car was created from the measurements of the car obtained by using a laser triangulation system. After a computer-aided drafting model of the actual car was developed, the model was simplified by removing the tires, roof strakes, and modification of the spoiler. A mesh refinement study was performed by exploring five cases with different mesh densities. By monitoring the convergence of the computed drag coefficient, the case with 2 million elements was selected as being the baseline case. Results included flow visualization of the pressure and velocity fields and the wake in the form of streamlines and vector plots. Quantitative results included lift and drag, and the body surface pressure distribution to determine the centerline pressure coefficient. When compared with the experimental results, the computed drag forces were comparable but expectedly lower than the experimental data mainly attributable to the differences between the present model and the actual car.


1993 ◽  
Vol 115 (3) ◽  
pp. 347-351 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Katoh ◽  
E. Urata

This paper deals with an automatic curing process for out-of-straightness of terminal ends of seamless pipes. The developed curing process is composed of a measuring stage and a controlling stage. In the measuring stage, the out-of-straightness pattern of each pipe is measured automatically, then reference pressure points and press strokes are determined to minimize the sum of squares of deflection angles. In the controlling stage, elastic springback of the pipe is predicted by an observer using the calculated press stroke, on-line measured values of reactive force, and deflection of the pipe. Through a series of experiments, the validity of the proposed process was verified.


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