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ACTA AERONAUTICAET ASTRONAUTICA SINICA ›› 2020, Vol. 41 ›› Issue (11): 423785-423785.doi: 10.7527/S1000-6893.2020.23785

• Material Engineering and Mechanical Manufacturing • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Variable stiffness design of flapping wings and its effects on lift and thrust

LI Kangkang1, CHEN Weiwei2   

  1. 1. School of Aeronautic Manufacturing Engineering, Nanchang Hangkong University, Nanchang 330063, China;
    2. School of Mechatronics Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China
  • Received:2019-12-30 Revised:2020-01-27 Online:2020-11-15 Published:2020-06-04
  • Supported by:
    Project Supported by Jiangxi Province Foundation for Youths (20202BABL214029)

Abstract: To improve lift and thrust and hence flight performance of flapping-wing air vehicles (ornithopters), this study examines the mechanism of both the lift and thrust changing with the stiffness of flapping wings by applying the bionic principles of biological wings. Based on the principle that the stiffness of both variable-stiffness joint mechanisms and Redundantly Planar Rotational Parallel Mechanisms (RPRPM) can be modulated by adjusting the pretensions, a stiffness variation on the flapping direction is achieved by variable-stiffness joints connected to each other. The rotating stiffness modulation of the wings can be replicated by applying RPRPM. The stiffness variation models of the flapping joints and the rotating mechanism with pretensions are established, and then validated by experiments and simulation. The relationships between both the lift and the thrust of the wing and the stiffness of the wing are studied, and it is validated that the lift and the thrust of the wing can be improved by modulating the stiffness of the wing to match the flapping frequency.

Key words: variable stiffness, flapping wings, lift, thrust, stiffness matching

CLC Number: