• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.30 no.9 s.252
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• pp.866-872
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• 2006

A numerical study on the propulsive characteristics of a biomimetic foil is done by developing an unsteady linearly-varying strength vortex method. A biomimetic foil is represented as a deforming foil with a tail fin. Present method is verified by comparing the simulated results with results using finite element and finite volume methods. A new boundary condition is imposed by considering the relative rotational velocity, which has not been included in the previous published literature. It is found that the undulation amplitude increases the thrust while maximum thickness is stepping down the thrust. It is also shown that there exists an optimal frequency for maximum thrust generation. It is believed that present results can be used in the investigation of the propulsive characteristics of the biomimetic deforming foil.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.1-5
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• 2006

Birds and insect in nature morph their mean camberline shapes to obtain both lift and thrust simultaneously. Previous unsteady thin airfoil theories were derived mainly for a rigid flapping airfoil. An extended unsteady thin airfoil theory for a deformable airfoil is required to analyze the unsteady two-dimensional aerodynamic characteristics of a biomorphing wing. Theodorsen's approach is extended to calculate the unsteady aerodynamic characteristics of a biomorphing airfoil. The mean camberline of the airfoil is represented as a polynomial. The unsteady aerodynamic characteristics of the morphing airfoil are represented as noncirculatory and circulatory terms. Present theory can be applied to the unsteady aerodynamic analysis of a flapping biomorphing airfoil and the aeroelastic analysis of a morphing wing.