Aerodynamics and Static Aeroelastic Behavior of Low–Reynolds Number Deformable Membrane Wings

Abstract

A modern class of micro aerial vehicles (MAVs) uses deformable membrane wings (DMWs), which comprise rigid or rigidizable structural elements that guarantee stiffness, as well as flexible membranes that provide an aerodynamic shape, all in a compact and lightweight form. To contribute to the body of knowledge about DMWs, this paper presents extensive numerical simulations, accompanied by experiments that substantiate the findings pertinent to the aerodynamics and static aeroelastic behavior of these unconventional wings. The performance characteristics of canonical, untapered, and untwisted rectangular DMWs are studied using a parametric physical-based two-dimensional (2D) fluid structure interaction (FSI) model adopting a two-way coupled FSI algorithm. The effect of geometrical, material, and flow properties is investigated, and the results obtained show that the material Young’s modulus is the most influential parameter affecting the aerodynamic characteristics of the studied DMWs, with their higher rigidity and lower excess length ratio producing a higher lift-to-drag ratio. The validation of the computational modeling is carried out using a dedicated experimental setup tested in a low-speed wind tunnel facility. Numerical investigations show reasonably good agreement with the performed experiments and provide a wealth of information on the aerodynamic and aeroelastic behavior of this class of wings.