The Role of Vortices and Unsteady Effects During the Hovering Flight of Dragonflies

1979 ◽  
Vol 83 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
STUART B. SAVAGE ◽  
BARRY G. NEWMAN ◽  
DENIS T.-M. WONG

Weis-Fogh and Norberg concluded that steady-state aerodynamics is incapable of explaining how the dragonfly supports its weight during hovering. Norberg also concluded that the wing kinematics of Aeschna juncea L., as determined photographically, are incompatible with those proposed by Weis-Fogh for his Flip mechanism. The present paper has proposed an alternative lift-generating mechanism, various aspects of which are novel from the standpoint of animal flight. Flow visualization tests performed in water established the flow field during a complete cycle of the idealized wing motion. Using this information and unsteady inviscid flow theory the forces were analysed. A plausible balance of horizontal forces and more than sufficient lift were obtained. A physical explanation of the theory is provided for those who do not wish to study the mathematical details.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazutoyo Yamada ◽  
Kosuke Kubo ◽  
Kenichiro Iwakiri ◽  
Yoshihiro Ishikawa ◽  
Hirotaka Higashimori

Abstract This paper discusses the unsteady effects associated with the impeller/diffuser interaction on the internal flow field and aerodynamic performance of a centrifugal compressor. In centrifugal compressors with a vaned diffuser, the flow field is inherently unsteady due to the influence of interaction between the impeller and the diffuser, and the unsteadiness of the flow field can often have a great influence on the aerodynamic performance of the compressor. Especially in high-load compressors, it is considered that large unsteady effects are produced on the compressor performance with a strong flow unsteadiness. The unsteady effect on aerodynamic performance of the compressor has not been fully revealed yet, and sometimes the steady-state RANS simulation finds it difficult to predict the compressor performance. In this study, numerical simulations have been conducted for a transonic centrifugal compressor with a vaned diffuser. The unsteady effects were clarified by comparing the numerical results between a single-passage steady-state RANS analysis and a full-annulus unsteady RANS analysis. The comparison of simulation results showed the difference in entropy generation in the impeller. The impingement of diffuser shock wave with the impeller pressure surface brought about a cyclic increase in the blade loading near the impeller trailing edge. Accordingly, with increasing tip leakage flow rate, a second tip leakage vortex was newly generated in the aft part of the impeller, which resulted in additional unsteady loss generation inside the impeller.


The conventional aerodynamic analysis of flapping animal flight invokes the ‘quasisteady assumption’ to reduce a problem in dynamics to a succession of static conditions: it is assumed that the instantaneous forces on a flapping wing are equivalent to those for steady motion at the same instantaneous velocity and angle of attack. The validity of this assumption and the importance of unsteady aerodynamic effects have long been controversial topics. Weis-Fogh tested the assumption for hovering animal flight, where unsteady effects are most pronounced, and concluded that most insects indeed hover according to the principles of quasi-steady aerodynamics. The logical basis for his conclusion is reviewed in this paper, and it is shown that the available evidence remains ambiguous. The aerodynamics of hovering insect flight are re-examined in this series of six papers, and a conclusion opposite to Weis-Fogh’s is tentatively reached. New morphological and kinematic data for a variety of insects are presented in papers II and III, respectively. Paper IV offers an aerodynamic interpretation of the wing kinematics and a discussion on the possible roles of different aerodynamic mechanisms. A generalized vortex theory of hovering flight is derived in paper V, and provides a method of estimating the mean lift, induced power and induced velocity for unsteady as well as quasi-steady flight mechanisms. The new data, aerodynamic mechanisms and vortex theory are all combined in paper VI for an analysis of the lift and power requirements and other mechanical aspects of hovering flight. A large number of symbols are needed for the morphological, kinematic and aerodynamic analyses. Most of them appear in more than one paper of the series, and so a single comprehensive table defining the major symbols from all of the papers is presented at the end of this paper.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdallah Daddi-Moussa-Ider ◽  
Hartmut Löwen ◽  
Benno Liebchen

AbstractAs compared to the well explored problem of how to steer a macroscopic agent, like an airplane or a moon lander, to optimally reach a target, optimal navigation strategies for microswimmers experiencing hydrodynamic interactions with walls and obstacles are far-less understood. Here, we systematically explore this problem and show that the characteristic microswimmer-flow-field crucially influences the navigation strategy required to reach a target in the fastest way. The resulting optimal trajectories can have remarkable and non-intuitive shapes, which qualitatively differ from those of dry active particles or motile macroagents. Our results provide insights into the role of hydrodynamics and fluctuations on optimal navigation at the microscale, and suggest that microorganisms might have survival advantages when strategically controlling their distance to remote walls.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lin Song ◽  
Lijuan Cao ◽  
Rui Liu ◽  
Hui Ma ◽  
Yanan Li ◽  
...  

AbstractGlucocorticoids (GC) are widely used clinically, despite the presence of significant side effects, including glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis (GIOP). While GC are believed to act directly on osteoblasts and osteoclasts to promote osteoporosis, the detailed underlying molecular mechanism of GC-induced osteoporosis is still not fully elucidated. Here, we show that lymphocytes play a pivotal role in regulating GC-induced osteoporosis. We show that GIOP could not be induced in SCID mice that lack T cells, but it could be re-established by adoptive transfer of splenic T cells from wild-type mice. As expected, T cells in the periphery are greatly reduced by GC; instead, they accumulate in the bone marrow where they are protected from GC-induced apoptosis. These bone marrow T cells in GC-treated mice express high steady-state levels of NF-κB receptor activator ligand (RANKL), which promotes the formation and maturation of osteoclasts and induces osteoporosis. Taken together, these findings reveal a critical role for T cells in GIOP.


2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 (5) ◽  
pp. 054044 ◽  
Author(s):  
D Valenti ◽  
G Denaro ◽  
F Conversano ◽  
C Brunet ◽  
A Bonanno ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  

1984 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Shohami ◽  
A. Sidi

The effect of haemorrhagic hypotension on the levels of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), thromboxane B2 (TXB2), and 6-keto prostaglandin F1α (6-keto-PGF1α) in cortical tissue of rats was studied. Lightly anesthetized rats were subjected to steady-state hypotension for 15 min, with a mean arterial blood pressure of 80, 60, and 40 mm Hg, and compared to a control group of normotensive rats. No significant change was found in the levels of PGE2 and TXB2. The level of 6-keto-PGF1α increased from 7.8 ± 0.9 to 14.1 ± 1.9 pg/mg protein (p < 0.02) at 80 mm Hg. Our findings suggest that prostacyclin, which is a potent vasodilator, might play a role in setting the lower limit of the autoregulation range.


1985 ◽  
Vol 227 (1) ◽  
pp. 129-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
R G Hansford ◽  
F Castro

The steady-state content of active (dephospho) pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDHA) of suspensions of coupled rat brain mitochondria oxidizing succinate was found to be markedly increased with increasing free Ca2+ ion concentration of the medium, with a half-maximal effect at 10(-6.43) M Ca2+. Other ions were present in these studies at concentrations appropriate for the cytosol. Depolarization of the plasma membrane of synaptosomes caused an increase in the steady-state content of PDHA, with veratridine giving a larger increase than depolarization by 33 mM-KCl. Values were 68 +/- 1% (n = 13) and 81 +/- 1% (n = 19) of maximal activity, for control incubations and incubations in the presence of 30 microM-veratridine, respectively. Measurements of cytosolic free Ca2+ concentrations ([Ca2+]cyt.) in these suspensions of synaptosomes, with the use of the fluorescent Ca2+-indicator Quin-2, indicated an increase on depolarization, with the change due to 30 microM-veratridine being larger in extent than that due to 33 mM-KCl. Values were 217 +/- 21 nM (n = 15), 544 +/- 48 nM (n = 15) and 783 +/- 75 nM (n = 14) for control, KCl-depolarized and veratridine-depolarized synaptosomes respectively. Experiments in which synaptosomes were treated with Ruthenium Red, an inhibitor of mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake, gave much lower resting contents of PDHA (42 +/- 2% of maximal), but failed to prevent totally an increase on depolarization. Addition of an excess of EGTA to the synaptosomal suspension just before the addition of veratridine resulted in a partial diminution in the response of PDHA content. Parallel studies with Quin-2 indicated no increase in [Ca2+]cyt. on addition of veratridine, under these conditions. Thus an increase in [Ca2+]cyt. forms only a part of the mechanism whereby pyruvate dehydrogenase interconversion responds to depolarization. A decrease in the ATP/ADP ratio may also be important, as inferred from the results of experiments with ouabain, which inhibits the Na+ + K+-dependent ATPase.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Vimal Edachery ◽  
V. Swamybabu ◽  
Gurupatham Anand ◽  
Paramasamy Manikandan ◽  
Satish V. Kailas

Abstract Surface topography is a critical parameter that can influence friction and wear in engineering applications. In this work, the influence of surface topography directionality on seizure and scuffing initiation during tribological interactions is explored. For this, unidirectional sliding wear experiments were carried out in immersed lubrication conditions for various normal loads. The tribological interactions were studied using EN31-60 HRC flats and SAE52100-60HRC pins in a sphere on flat configuration. The results show that, in some cases, the sliding interactions in the initial cycles lead to a high friction coefficient of up to ∼0.68 in lubricated conditions, which was termed as ‘peak friction’, and this was accompanied by scuffing. The existence of peak friction was found to be dependent on surface topography directionality, especially when the directionality in topography was parallel to the sliding direction. Continuous ratchetting was found to be the cause of peak friction which was accompanied by seizure and scuffing. When the topography directionality was perpendicular or independent of sliding direction, elastic shakedown occurred at earlier cycles and prevented peak friction initiation, scuffing and also facilitated for higher steady-state friction values.


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