Three Dimensional Aerodynamic Characteristics of a Small Bee in Hovering Flight

정지비행하는 작은 벌의 3차원 공력특성

The three-dimensional flows in the Weis-Fogh mechanism are studied by flow visualization and numerical simulation by the discrete vortex method. In this mechanism, two wings open, touching their trailing edges (fling), and rotate in opposite directions in the horizontal plane. The structure of the vortex systems shed from the wings is very complicated and their effects on the forces on the wings have not yet been clarified. The discrete vortex method, especially the vortex stick method, is employed to investigate the vortex structure in the wake of the two wings. The wings are represented by lattice vortices, and the shed vortices are expressed by discrete three-dimensional vortex sticks. The vortex distributions and the velocity field are calculated. The pressure is estimated by the Bernoulli equation, and the lift on the wing are also obtained.