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First published online October 2, 2009
Journal of Experimental Biology 212, 3313-3329 (2009)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2009
doi: 10.1242/jeb.030494

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Hovering of model insects: simulation by coupling equations of motion with Navier–Stokes equations

Jiang Hao Wu¹, Yan Lai Zhang² and Mao Sun^2,*

¹ School of Transportation Science and Engineering, Institute of Fluid Mechanics, Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Beijing, China
² Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Fluid Mechanics, Institute of Fluid Mechanics, Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Beijing, China

^* Author for correspondence (m.sun{at}263.net)

Accepted 1 July 2009

When an insect hovers, the centre of mass of its body oscillates around a point in the air and its body angle oscillates around a mean value, because of the periodically varying aerodynamic and inertial forces of the flapping wings. In the present paper, hover flight including body oscillations is simulated by coupling the equations of motion with the Navier–Stokes equations. The equations are solved numerically; periodical solutions representing the hover flight are obtained by the shooting method. Two model insects are considered, a dronefly and a hawkmoth; the former has relatively high wingbeat frequency (n) and small wing mass to body mass ratio, whilst the latter has relatively low wingbeat frequency and large wing mass to body mass ratio. The main results are as follows. (i) The body mainly has a horizontal oscillation; oscillation in the vertical direction is about 1/6 of that in the horizontal direction and oscillation in pitch angle is relatively small. (ii) For the hawkmoth, the peak-to-peak values of the horizontal velocity, displacement and pitch angle are 0.11U (U is the mean velocity at the radius of gyration of the wing), 0.22c=4 mm (c is the mean chord length) and 4 deg., respectively. For the dronefly, the corresponding values are 0.02U, 0.05c=0.15 mm and 0.3 deg., much smaller than those of the hawkmoth. (iii) The horizontal motion of the body decreases the relative velocity of the wings by a small amount. As a result, a larger angle of attack of the wing, and hence a larger drag to lift ratio or larger aerodynamic power, is required for hovering, compared with the case of neglecting body oscillations. For the hawkmoth, the angle of attack is about 3.5 deg. larger and the specific power about 9% larger than that in the case of neglecting the body oscillations; for the dronefly, the corresponding values are 0.7 deg. and 2%. (iv) The horizontal oscillation of the body consists of two parts; one (due to wing aerodynamic force) is proportional to 1/cn² and the other (due to wing inertial force) is proportional to wing mass to body mass ratio. For many insects, the values of 1/cn² and wing mass to body mass ratio are much smaller than those of the hawkmoth, and the effects of body oscillation would be rather small; thus it is reasonable to neglect the body oscillations in studying their aerodynamics.

Key words: insect, hovering, body oscillations, equations of motion and Navier–Stokes simulation, periodic solutions

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