Design of Bionic Foldable Wing Mimicking the Hind Wings of the C. Buqueti Bamboo Weevil

Abstract

The bamboo weevil, Cyrtotrachelus buqueti, has excellent flight ability and strong environmental adaptability. When it flies, its fore wings and hind wings are unfolded, whereas when it crawls, its fore wings are closed, and its flexible hind wings are regularly folded under the fore wings. In this paper, the hind wing folding/unfolding pattern of C. buqueti is analyzed and a new bionic foldable wing with rigid–flexible coupling consisting of a link mechanism and a wing membrane is constructed. The movement of the link at the wing base mimics the contraction of a muscle in the thorax that triggers scissor-like motion and the deployment of the veins. Elastic hinges are used to mimic the rotational motion of the wing base and the vein joints. The static/dynamic characteristics of bionic foldable wings are further analyzed, and the LS-DYNA software is used to investigate rigid–flexible coupling dynamics. The elastic deformation of the wing membrane, kinematic characteristics of the linkage mechanism, and modes of the whole system are calculated. Static analysis of the structure reveals that the foldable wing has excellent stiffness characteristics and load-bearing capacity. The bionic foldable wing is constructed using three-dimensional (3D) printing technology, and its folding and unfolding performance is tested. Evaluation of its performance shows that the bionic wing has a large fold ratio and can achieve stable folding and unfolding motions. A slightly tighter assembly between the pin and the hinge hole ensures that the wing does not fold back during flapping.