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Fluid-suspended microorganisms have evolved different swimming and feeding strategies in order to cope with an environment dominated by viscous effects. For instance ciliated organisms rely on the collective motion of flexible appendices to…
This study experimentally examines the impact of spacing between two pulsed jets and their strengths on the fluid dynamics within an elastic hemispherical cavity. Such interactions between multiple pulsed jets are observed in various…
This paper presents a data-driven optimal control policy for a micro flapping wing unmanned aerial vehicle. First, a set of optimal trajectories are computed off-line based on a geometric formulation of dynamics that captures the nonlinear…
Flow visualisations are essential to better understand the unsteady aerodynamics of flapping wing flight. The issues inherent to animal experiments, such as poor controllability and unnatural flapping when tethered, can be avoided by using…
When wind blows over the surface of a viscous liquid, a clear transition from irregular small-amplitude streamwise-oriented wrinkles to well-defined nearly two-dimensional regular waves is observed at a critical wind velocity. We examine…
In this paper, we numerically investigate the propulsive performance of three-dimensional pitching flexible plates with varying flexibility and trailing edge shapes. To eliminate the effect of other geometric parameters, only the trailing…
We investigate the unsteady lift response of compliant membrane wings in hovering kinematics by combining analytical inviscid theory with experimental results. An unsteady aerodynamic model is derived for a compliant thin aerofoil immersed…
We develop a novel biased Monte-Carlo simulation technique to measure the force-extension curves and the distribution function of the extension of fluctuating filaments stretched by external force. The method is applicable for arbitrary…
The present work is concerned with the shape optimization of flapping wings in forward flight. The analysis is performed by combining a gradient-based optimizer with the unsteady vortex lattice method (UVLM). We describe the UVLM…
We numerically study a simple sliding system: a rigid mass pulled by a spring with a strong in-plane stiffness anisotropy and a small misalignment angle. Simulations show that the apparent stick phase appearing in this system is in reality…
Aeroelastic structures, from insect wings to wind turbine blades, experience transient unsteady aerodynamic loads that are coupled to their motion. Effective real-time control of flexible structures relies on accurate and efficient…
Flapping animal flight is often modeled as a combined pitching and heaving motion in order to investigate the unsteady flow structures and resulting forces that could augment the animal's lift and propulsive capabilities. This work isolates…
Flapping wings enable flying animals and biomimetic robots to generate elevated aerodynamic forces. Measurements that demonstrate this capability are based on tethered experiments with robots and animals, and indirect force calculations…
Flapping insect flight is a complex and beautiful phenomenon that relies on fast, active control mechanisms to counter aerodynamic instability. To directly investigate how freely-flying D. melanogaster control their body pitch angle against…
This paper presents a method for simultaneous optimization of the outer shape and internal topology of aircraft wings, with the objective of minimizing drag subject to lift and compliance constraints for multiple load cases. The physics are…
Understanding force generation in non-equilibrium systems is a significant challenge in statistical physics. We uncover a surprising fluctuation-induced force between two plates immersed in homogeneous isotropic turbulence using Direct…
Flying insects are thought to achieve energy-efficient flapping flight by storing and releasing elastic energy in their muscles, tendons, and thorax. However, flight systems consisting elastic elements coupled to nonlinear, unsteady…
Flying animals possess highly complex physical characteristics and are capable of performing agile maneuvers using their wings. The flapping wings generate complex wake structures that influence the aerodynamic forces, which can be…
Flapping flight and swimming are increasingly studied both due to their intrinsic scientific richness and their applicability to novel robotic systems. Strip theory is often applied to flapping wings, but such modeling is only rigorously…
In the fluid dynamics video, we present a microfluidic device to measure the propulsive power of nematodes. The device consists of a tapered conduit filled with aqueous solution. The conduit is subjected to a DC electric field with the…