Fluid-structure interaction using volume penalization and mass-spring models with application to flapping bumblebee flight

TL;DR

This study models the fluid-structure interaction of a bumblebee's flexible wings using a coupled mass-spring and Navier-Stokes solver, revealing how wing deformation affects aerodynamic efficiency in laminar and turbulent flows.

Contribution

It introduces a novel coupled fluid-structure interaction model for flexible insect wings, combining mass-spring structural dynamics with a spectral fluid solver.

Findings

Flexible wings produce smaller aerodynamic forces than rigid ones.

Flexible wings require less power during flight.

Turbulent flow impacts force production of flexible wings.

Abstract

Wing flexibility plays an essential role in the aerodynamic performance of insects due to the considerable deformation of their wings during flight under the impact of inertial and aerodynamic forces. These forces come from the complex wing kinematics of insects. In this study, both wing structural dynamics and flapping wing motion are taken into account to investigate the effect of wing deformation on the aerodynamic efficiency of a bumblebee in tethered flight. A fluid-structure interaction solver, coupling a mass-spring model for the flexible wing with a pseudo-spectral code solving the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations, is implemented for this purpose. We first consider a tethered bumblebee flying in laminar flow with flexible wings. Compared to the rigid model, flexible wings generate smaller aerodynamic forces but require much less power. Finally, the bumblebee model is put into a turbulent flow to investigate its influence on the force production of flexible wings.