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Open AccessJournal ArticleDOI

Very small insects use novel wing flapping and drag principle to generate the weight-supporting vertical force

Xin Cheng, +1 more
- 25 Nov 2018 - 
- Vol. 855, pp 646-670
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TLDR
In this article, the effect of air viscosity on the flow around an insect wing increases as insect size decreases, and the authors observed very small insects using drag to support their weight and explained how a net vertical force is generated when the drag principle is applied.
Abstract
The effect of air viscosity on the flow around an insect wing increases as insect size decreases. For the smallest insects (wing length of that by the real wing kinematics; i.e. they must use the special wing movements to overcome the problem of large viscous effects encountered by the commonly used flapping kinematics. We have observed for the first time very small insects using drag to support their weight and we explain how a net vertical force is generated when the drag principle is applied.

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Journal ArticleDOI

Insect-inspired, tailless, hover-capable flapping-wing robots: Recent progress, challenges, and future directions

TL;DR: The capability of free flight and flight endurance of the FWAVs, which are limited by current electronics and power technologies that severely constrain those vehicles using other driving actuators, rather than conventional electromagnetic motors, to freely take off, are discussed.
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Flapping-mode changes and aerodynamic mechanisms in miniature insects

TL;DR: The wing kinematics for miniature-insect species of different sizes are measured and the aerodynamic forces are computed to produce the required vertical force for flapping as larger insects.
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Aerodynamic performance of a bristled wing of a very small insect

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors evaluated the aerodynamic force generation capacity of the wing of a miniature beetle Paratuposa placentis using a combined experimental and numerical approach, and found that, in the considered biologically relevant regimes, the bristled wing functions as a less than 50% leaky paddle, and it produces between 66 and 96% of aerodynamic drag force of an equivalent membrane wing.
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Aspect ratio studies on insect wings

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present an overview of previous studies on aspect-ratio effects of insect-like wings summarizing the main findings and suggest alternative scalings of Reynolds and Rossby numbers, using the wingspan as the characteristic length.
References
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Book

Viscous Fluid Flow

TL;DR: In this article, the stability of Laminar Boundary Layer Flow Appendices has been investigated in Cylindrical and Spherical Coordinates of Incompressible Newtonian Fluids.
Journal ArticleDOI

Wing rotation and the aerodynamic basis of insect flight.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors show that the enhanced aerodynamic performance of insects results from an interaction of three distinct yet interactive mechanisms: delayed stall, rotational circulation, and wake capture.
Journal ArticleDOI

Leading-edge vortices in insect flight

TL;DR: In this article, the authors visualized the airflow around the wings of the hawkmoth Manduca sexta and a 'hovering' large mechanical model, and found an intense leading-edge vortex was found on the downstroke, of sufficient strength to explain the high-lift forces.
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Quick Estimates of Flight Fitness in Hovering Animals, Including Novel Mechanisms for Lift Production

TL;DR: In this article, the average lift coefficient, Reynolds number, the aerodynamic power, the moment of inertia of the wing mass and the dynamic efficiency in animals which perform normal hovering with horizontally beating wings are derived.
Journal ArticleDOI

The aerodynamics of insect flight

TL;DR: The basic physical principles underlying flapping flight in insects, results of recent experiments concerning the aerodynamics of insect flight, as well as the different approaches used to model these phenomena are reviewed.
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