Simulation of aerodynamic secrets of grasshoppers

Researchers are taking a step closer to making micro aircraft with flexibility and energy efficiency such as grasshoppers after successfully decoding the aerodynamic secret in the fly's flying motion. This coincides.

Dr. John Young from the University of New South Wales and a group of animal flight researchers from the Department of Zoology, Oxford University used high-speed digital cameras to record The grasshoppers in a wind tunnel, from there record how the grasshopper wing shape changes during flight. They used this information to create a computer model to re-establish airflow and pressure due to the complex wing beating motion of the grasshopper.

The breakthrough results published this week in Science mean that engineers first understand the aerodynamic secrets of one of the most efficient flying animals in nature.This is an important piece of information that helps find ways to create ultra-small automatic airplanes used in situations such as search and rescue, military applications and surveying dangerous areas.

'Now the so-called' bumblebee-paradox '(' paradox of bee bees') thinks that insects do not follow the aerodynamic rules have been rejected. Modern aerodynamics can really be applied precisely on the flight mechanism of insects, 'said Dr. Young, lecturer at the School of Engineering, Civil and Aerospace Engineering at the Australian Defense Academy, for know.

'Biological systems have been optimized due to evolutionary pressure over millions of years, and they contain thousands of examples of creator superiority over what humans can do.'

Dr. Young said: 'The wings are extremely sophisticatedly constructed of an insect, with curves and twists, with undulating ripple surfaces in place, a structure far beyond what humans create. out on aerodynamic design wing wings. '

Illustration of the air currents around the wing of a flying grasshopper. (Photo: Flight Mechanism Research Group, Zoology Department, Oxford University and Dr. John Young, University of New South Wales - Australian Defense Academy)

'Until recently, people have not been able to measure the true shape of insect wings when flying - partly because their wings were beating so fast, partly because the wing shape was too complicated.'

'Grasshoppers are a very interesting study for engineers because they have the ability to fly far distances with only a limited amount of energy.'

After the computer model of the locust wing motion was completed, the researchers ran models to find out why the wing structure of the species is so complex.

In one experiment, they removed all curves and folds, leaving only twisted nodes; In another experiment, they replaced the wings with flat, hard plates. The results show that simplified models also create lift, but are much less efficient, so grasshoppers need many times more energy to fly.

'The message for engineers trying to build microscopic airplanes adapting the structure of insects is, the fact that insects lift their wings is quite simple and that humans can easily imitate, but to achieve As effective as the intercontinental flight of grasshoppers, the details of the wing design must reach a very sophisticated level, ' said Dr. Young.

The research team from Oxford University includes: Dr. Simon Walker, Dr. Richard Bomphrey, Dr. Graham Taylor, and Professor Adrian Thomas are both members of the Animal Flight Movement of the Animal Department. learn.

The presentation of the research results under the heading 'Insect wing structure to enhance aerodynamic function and flight efficiency' appeared in Science on September 18.