An Experimental Study on Lift Force Generation Resulting from Spanwise Flow in Flapping Wings

Using a combination of force transducer measurement to quantify net lift force, high frame rate camera to quantify and subtract inertial contributions, and Digital Particle Image Velocimetry (DPIV) to calculate aerodynamic contributions in the spanwise plane, the contribution of spanwise flow to the generation of lift force in wings undergoing a pure flapping motion in hover is shown as a function of flapping angle throughout the flapping cycle. These experiments were repeated at various flapping frequencies and for various wing planform sizes for flat plate and span wise cambered wings. Despite the previous identification of the importance of span wise fluid structures in the generation of lift force in flapping wings throughout the existing body of literature, the direct contribution of spanwise flow to lift force generated has not previously been quantified. Therefore, in the same manner as commonly applied to investigate the chordwise lift distribution across an airfoil in flapping wings, spanwise flow due to bulk flow and rotational fluid dynamic mechanisms will be investigated to validate the existence of a direct component of the lift force originating from the flapping motion in the spanwise plane instead.