Flapping wing PIV and force measurements

Flapping wing aerodynamics has been of interest to engineers recently due in part to the DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) MAV (Micro-Aerial Vehicle) initiative. MAVs are small unmanned aerial vehicles with length scales similar to birds and insects. Flapping wing MAVs would serve as mobile and stealthy sensing platforms capable of gathering intelligence in hazardous and physically inaccessible locations. Traditional means of lift and thrust generation become inefficient when scaled to these sizes, therefore a flapping wing propulsion system will be necessary.;The design of a flapping wing MAV requires the ability to measure forces and velocities around the wing. Three components of velocity were measured in the wake of a two dimensional (2D) flapping airfoil model using a novel application of stereoscopic DPIV (Digital Particle Image Velocimetry). One component of force was measured using a newly proposed method outlined in the dissertation. The force measurement technique relies on a specific sequence of data acquisition, which has the benefit of reducing measurement uncertainty and noise. No experiments of this type have been conducted, and no direct aerodynamic force data exists for the low Reynolds numbers applicable to flapping wing MAVs. The well-established stereoscopic DPIV technique produces relatively low uncertainties while the new force measurement technique has not been previously tested. Theoretical analysis and experimental results show that aerodynamic forces are attainable for chord Reynolds numbers as low as 1,000, which is significantly lower than previous studies.;PIV measurements reveal symmetric and asymmetric wake topologies for a NACA 0012 and flat plate airfoil. A sinusoidally heaving flat plate airfoil produces highly deflected wakes for a wider range of flapping conditions than a NACA 0012 airfoil. Deflected wakes are of potentially interest since both lift and thrust components of force are developed. The flat plate also produces larger aerodynamic forces as measured perpendicularly to the free stream velocity. Experimental data for the NACA airfoil compares favorably with a computational fluid dynamics model of a 2D flapping airfoil at similar flapping conditions. Qualitative flow topologies and quantitative velocity and force magnitudes agree with a high degree of certainty.