Using Drag to Hover
Fluid Dynamics
2007-05-23 v1 General Physics
Abstract
Unlike a helicopter, an insect can, in theory, use both lift and drag to stay aloft. Here we show that a dragonfly uses mostly drag to hover by employing asymmetric up and down strokes. Computations of a family of strokes further show that using drag can be as efficient as using lift at the low Reynolds number regime appropriate for insects.
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Cite
@article{arxiv.physics/0304069,
title = {Using Drag to Hover},
author = {Z. Jane Wang},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:physics/0304069},
year = {2007}
}
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8 pages