Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Two- and Three-Dimensional Simulations of Beetle Hind Wing Flapping during Free Forward Flight

  • Published:
Journal of Bionic Engineering Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Aerodynamic characteristic of the beetle, Trypoxylus dichotomus, which has a pair of elytra (forewings) and hind wings, is numerically investigated. Based on the experimental results of wing kinematics, two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) computational fluid dynamic simulations were carried out to reveal aerodynamic performance of the hind wing. The roles of the spiral Leading Edge Vortex (LEV) and the spanwise flow were clarified by comparing 2D and 3D simulations. Mainly due to pitching down of chord line during downstroke in highly inclined stroke plane, relatively high averaged thrust was produced in the free forward flight of the beetle. The effects of the local corrugation and the camber variation were also investigated for the beetle’s hind wings. Our results show that the camber variation plays a significant role in improving both lift and thrust in the flapping. On the other hand, the local corrugation pattern has no significant effect on the aerodynamic force due to large angle of attack during flapping.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Ho S, Nassef H, Pornsin-Sirirak N, Tai Y C, Ho C M. Flight dynamics of small vehicles. ICAS2002 Congress, Toronto, Canada, 2002.

    Google Scholar 

  2. van den Berg C, Ellington C P. The vortex wake of a ‘hovering’ model hawkmoth. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B, 1997, 352, 317–328.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Dickinson M H, Lehmann F O, Sane S P. Wing rotation and the aerodynamic basis of insect flight. Science, 1999, 284, 1954–1960.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Bomphrey R J, Taylor G K, Thomas A L R. Smoke visualization of free-flying bumblebees indicates independent leading-edge vortices on each wing pair. Experiments in Fluids, 2009, 46, 811–821.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Young J, Walker S M, Bomphrey R J, Taylor G K, Thomas A L R. Details of insect wing design and deformation enhance aerodynamic function and flight efficiency. Science, 2009, 325, 1549–1552.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Wang Z J. Two dimensional mechanisms for insect hovering. Physical Review Letters, 2000, 85, 2216–2219.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Aono H, Liang F, Liu H. Near- and far-field aerodynamics in insect hovering flight: An integrated computational study. Journal of Experimental Biology, 2008, 211, 239–257.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Bomphrey R J, Lawson N J, Harding N J, Taylor G K, Thomas A L. The aerodynamics of Manduca sexta: Digital particle image velocimetry analysis of the leading-edge vortex. Journal of Experimental Biology, 2005, 208, 1079–1094.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Le T Q, Byun D, Saputra P, Ko J H, Park H C, Kim M. Numerical investigation of the aerodynamic characteristics of a hovering Coleopteran insect. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 2010, 266, 485–495.

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  10. Dong H, Koehler C, Liang Z, Wan H, Gaston Z. An integrated analysis of a dragonfly in free flight. 28th AIAA Applied Aerodynamics Conference, Chicago, Illinois, USA, 2010, AIAA-2010–4390.

    Google Scholar 

  11. Zhao L, Huang Q, Deng X, Sane S P. Aerodynamic effects of flexibility in flapping wings. Journal of The Royal Society Interface, 2010, 7, 485–497.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Lehmann F O, Pick S. The aerodynamic benefit of wing–wing interaction depends on stroke trajectory in flapping insect wings. Journal of Experimental Biology, 2007, 210, 1362–1377.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Wang Z J, Russell D. Effect of forewing and hindwing interactions on aerodynamic forces and power in hovering dragonfly flight. Physical Review Letters, 2007, 99, 148101.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Kim W K, Ko J H, Park H C, Byun D Y. Numerical study on the effects of corrugation of the gliding dragonfly wing. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 2009, 260, 523–530.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Kesel A B. Aerodynamic characteristics of dragonfly wing sections compared with technical aerofoils. Journal of Experimental Biology, 2000, 203, 3125–3135.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Tamai M, Wang Z J, Rajagopalan G, Hu H, He G W. Aerodynamic performance of a corrugated dragonfly airfoil compared with smooth airfoils at low reynolds numbers. 45th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit, Reno, Nevada, USA, 2007, AIAA-2007–0483.

    Google Scholar 

  17. Meng X G, Xu L, Sun M. Aerodynamic effects of corrugation in flapping insect wings in hovering flight. Journal of Experimental Biology, 2011, 214, 432–444.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Luo G, Sun M. The effects of corrugation and wing planform on the aerodynamic force production of sweeping model insect wings. Acta Mechanica Sinica, 2005, 21, 531–541.

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  19. Walker S M, Thomas A L R, Taylor G K. Deformable wing kinematics in the desert locust: How and why do camber, twist and topography vary through the stroke? Journal of The Royal Society Interface, 2009, 6, 735–747.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Du G, Sun M. Effects of wing deformation on aerodynamic forces in hovering hoverflies. Journal of Experimental Biology, 2010, 213, 2273–2283.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Frantsevich L, Dai Z, Wang W Y, Zhang Y. Geometry of elytra opening and closing in some beetles (Coleoptera, Polyphaga). Journal of Experimental Biology, 2005, 208, 3145–3158.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Dai Z, Yang Z. Macro-/micro-structures of elytra, mechanical properties of the biomaterial and the coupling strength between elytra in beetles. Journal of Bionic Engineering, 2009, 7, 6–12.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Sitorus P E, Park H C, Byun D, Goo N S, Han C H. The role of elytra in beetle flight: I. Generation of quasi-static aerodynamic forces. Journal of Bionic Engineering, 2010, 7, 354–363.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Truong T V, Le T Q, Byun D, Park H C, Kim M. Flexible wing kinematics of a free-flying beetle (rhinoceros beetle Trypoxylus Dichotomus). Journal of Bionic Engineering, 2012, 9, 177–184.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Weiss J M, Maruszewski J P, Smith W A. Implicit solution of preconditioned Navier-Stokes equations using algebraic multigrid. AIAA Journal, 1999, 37, 29–36.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Pandya S A, Venkateswaran S, Pulliam T H. Implementation of preconditioned dual-time procedures in overflow. 41st Aerospace Sciences Meeting & Exhibit, Reno, Nevada, USA, 2003.

    Google Scholar 

  27. Park S H, Lee J E, Kwon J H. Preconditioned HLLE method for flows at all Mach numbers. AIAA Jounal, 2006, 44, 2645–2653.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Buelow P E O, Schwer D A, Feng J, Merkle C L. A preconditioned dual-time, diagonalized ADI scheme for unsteady computations. 13th AIAA Computational Fluid Dynamics Conference, Snowmass, Colorado, USA, 1997.

    Google Scholar 

  29. Cho K W, Kwon J H, Lee S. Development of a fully systemized chimera methodology for steady/unsteady problems. Journal of Aircraft, 1998, 36, 973–980.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Sa J H, Kim J W, Park S H, Park J S, Jung S N, Yu Y H. KFLOW results of airloads on HART-II rotor blades with prescribed blade deformation. International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sciences, 2009, 10, 52–62.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Kim D, Choi H. Two-dimensional mechanism of hovering flight by single flapping wing. Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology, 2007, 21, 207–221.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Sun M, Tang J. Unsteady aerodynamic force generation by a model fruit fly wing in flapping motion. Journal of Experimental Biology, 2002, 205, 55–70.

    Google Scholar 

  33. Ramamurti R, Sandberg W C. A three-dimensional computational study of aerodynamic mechanisms of insect flight. Journal of Experimental Biology, 2002, 205, 1507–1518.

    Google Scholar 

  34. Fry S N, Sayaman R, Dickinson M H. The aerodynamics of hovering flight in Drosophila. Journal of Experimental Biology, 2005, 208, 2303–2318.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Wang Z J. The role of drag in insect hovering. Journal of Experimental Biology, 2004, 207, 4147–4155.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Bos F M, Lentink D, Oudheusden B W, Bijl H. Numerical study of kinematic wing models of hovering insect flight. 45th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit, Reno, Nevada, USA, 2007, AIAA-2007–482.

    Google Scholar 

  37. Zheng L, Hedrick T L, Mittal R. Time-varying wing-twist improves aerodynamic efficiency of forward flight in butterflies. PLoS ONE, 2013, 8, e53060.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Wang H, Zeng L, Liu H, Yin C. Measuring wing kinematics, flight trajectory and body attitude during forward flight and turning maneuvers in dragonflies. Journal of Experimental Biology, 2003, 206, 745–757.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Sun M, Wu J H. Aerodynamic force generation and power requirements in forward flight in a fruit fly with wing model. Journal of Experimental Biology, 2003, 206, 3065–3083.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. Wu J, Sun M. Unsteady aerodynamic forces and power requirements of a bumblebee in forward flight. Acta Mechanica Sinca, 2005, 21, 207–217.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. Ellington C P, Berg C V D, Willmott A P, Thomas A L R. Leading edge vortices in insect flight. Nature, 1996, 384, 626–630.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  42. Birch J M, Dickinson M H. Spanwise flow and the attachment of the leading-edge vortex on insect wings. Nature, 2001, 412, 729–733.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  43. Vargas A, Mittal R, Dong H. A computational study of the aerodynamic performance of a dragonfly wing section in gliding flight. Bioinspiration & Biomimetics, 2008, 3, 026004.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  44. Meng X, Sun M. Aerodynamic effects of corrugation in flapping insect wings in forward flight. Journal of Bionic Engineering, 2011, 8, 140–150.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  45. Okamoto M, Yasuda K, Azuma A. Aerodynamic characteristics of the wings and body of a dragonfly. The Journal of Experimental Biology, 1996, 199, 281–294.

    Google Scholar 

  46. Dudley R, Ellington C P. Mechanics of forward flight in bumblebees: I. Kinematics and morphology. Journal of Experimental Biology, 1990, 148, 19–52.

    Google Scholar 

  47. Willmott A P, Ellington C P. The mechanics of flight in the hawkmoth manduca sexta. I. Kinematics of hovering and forward flight. Journal of Experimental Biology, 1997, 200, 2705–2722.

    Google Scholar 

  48. Usherwood J R, Ellington C P. The aerodynamics of revolving wings I. Model hawkmoth wings. Journal of Experimental Biology, 2002, 205, 1547–1564.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology, PO Box 29, Ansan, 425-600, Republic of Korea

    Tuyen Quang Le & Jin Hwan Ko

  2. Department of Aerospace and Information Engineering, Konkuk University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    Tien Van Truong, Hieu Trung Tran, Soo Hyung Park & Kwang Joon Yoon

  3. Department of Advanced Technology Fusion, Konkuk University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    Hoon Cheol Park

  4. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, 440-746, Republic of Korea

    Doyoung Byun

Authors
  1. Tuyen Quang Le
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Tien Van Truong
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Hieu Trung Tran
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Soo Hyung Park
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Jin Hwan Ko
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Hoon Cheol Park
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Kwang Joon Yoon
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Doyoung Byun
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Doyoung Byun.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Le, T.Q., Truong, T.V., Tran, H.T. et al. Two- and Three-Dimensional Simulations of Beetle Hind Wing Flapping during Free Forward Flight. J Bionic Eng 10, 316–328 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1016/S1672-6529(13)60227-9

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S1672-6529(13)60227-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation