Study on the Thrust Generation of Flapping Flat Plates for Microscale Biomedical Swimming Robots

초소형 의공학용 유영로봇을 위한 플래핑 평판들의 추력 발생 연구

Creatures in nature flap their wings to generate fluid dynamic forces that are required for the locomotion. Small-size creatures do not use flapping wings. Thus, it is questionable at which Reynolds number the propulsion using the flapping wings are effective. In this paper, the onset conditions of the thrust generation from the combined motion of flat plates (heaving, pitching in the motion and also tandem, biplane in the array) is investigated using a Lattice Boltzmann method. To solve the pitching motion of the plate on the regularly spaced lattices, 2-D moving boundary condition was implemented. The present method is validated by comparing the wake patterns behind a oscillating circular cylinder and its hydrodynamic characteristics with the CFD results. Present method can be applied to the design of micro flapping propulsors for biomedical use.