• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2005.11a
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• pp.719-722
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• 2005

In this paper, we present out recent progress in the LIPCA (Lightweight Piezo-Composite Actuator) application for actuation of a flapping wing device. The flapping device uses linkage system that can amplify the actuation displacement of LIPCA. The feathering mechanism is also designed and implemented such that the wing can rotate during flapping. The natural flapping-frequency of the device was about 9 Hz, where the maximum flapping angle was achieved. The flapping test under 5 Hz to 15 Hz flapping frequency was performed to investigate the flapping performance by measuring the produced lift and thrust. Maximum lift and thrust were produced when the flapping device was actuated at about the natural flapping-frequency.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.33 no.12
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• pp.48-53
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• 2005

In this paper, we present our recent progress in the LIPCA (Lightweight Piezo-Composite Actuator) application for actuation of a flapping wing device. The flapping device uses linkage system that can amplify the actuation displacement of LIPCA. The feathering mechanism is also designed and implemented such that the wing can rotate during flapping. The natural flapping-frequency of the device was about 9 Hz, where the maximum flapping angle was achieved. The flapping test under 4 Hz to 15 Hz flapping frequency was performed to investigate the flapping performance by measuring the produced lift and thrust. Maximum lift and thrust were produced when the flapping device was actuated at about the natural flapping-frequency.

• International Journal of Control, Automation, and Systems
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• v.4 no.6
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• pp.748-755
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• 2006

In this paper, a trade-off design and fabrication of IPMC(Ionic Polymer Metal Composites) as an actuator for a flapping device have been described. Experiments for the internal solvent loss of IPMCs have been conducted for various combinations of cation and solvent in order to find out the best combination of cation and solvent for minimal solvent loss and higher actuation force. From the experiments, it was found that IPMCs with heavy water as their solvent could operate longer. Relations between length/thickness and tip force of IPMCs were also quantitatively identified for the actuator design from the tip force measurement of 200, 400, 640, and $800{\mu}m$ thick IPMCs. All IPMCs thicker than $200{\mu}m$ were processed by casting $Nafion^{TM}$ solution. The shorter and thicker IPMCs tended to generate higher actuation force but lower actuation displacement. To improve surface conductivity and to minimize solvent evaporation due to electrically heated electrodes, gold was sputtered on both surfaces of the cast IPMCs by the Physical Vapor Deposition(PVD) process. For amplification of a short IPMC's small actuation displacement to a large flapping motion, a rack-and-pinion type hinge was used in the flapping device. An insect wing was attached to the IPMC flapping mechanism for its flapping test. In this test, the wing flapping device using the $800{\mu}m$ thick IPMC. could create around $10^{\circ}{\sim}85^{\circ}$ flapping angles and $0.5{\sim}15Hz$ flapping frequencies by applying $3{\sim|}4V$.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2005.11a
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• pp.723-726
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• 2005

The two major obstacles in the application of IPMC to flapping actuators operated in the air are solvent loss and actuation force. In this paper, solvent loss of various IPMCs made of Nafion$^{TM}$117(183$\mu$m thickness) has been experimentally investigated to find out the best combination of cation and solvent for minimal solvent loss in IPMCs and higher actuation force. For this purpose. experiments for the internal solvent loss measurement of IMPCs have been conducted for various combinations of cation and solvent. From the experiments, it was found that heavy water showed improvement in the operating time up to more than two minutes. in the tip force measurement of IPMCs, it was found that smaller and thicker IPMCs produced larger tip forces. However, the shorter IPMCs generated reduced actuation displacements and created flapping motion with decreased natural frequency. For the design of flapping device actuated by 5mm wide, 10mm long, 0.2mm thick IPMCs were used in the stacked form. Since the actuation force is a few gram-force, we stacked five IPMCs to improve actuation force. To amply the actuation force, rack-and-pin ion type hinge was used for the flapping device and insect (Cicadidae) wing was attached to the stacked IPMC actuator. In the flapping test, the device could generate flapping angle of 15$^{\circ}$ at 6Hz excitation by 2.5 voltage square wave input.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.34 no.8
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• pp.55-62
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• 2006

This paper presents experimental evaluation of an insect-mimicking flapping-wing device actuated by a unimorph piezoceramic actuator. Length of each rod and hinge point in the linkage/amplification system are carefully chosen such that the resulting wing motion can mimic clapping of wings in a real insect at the end of upstroke. In addition to this, a pair of corrugated wings are fabricated mimicking zig-zag cross section of a real insect wing. Thanks to the two additional implementation, the improved flapping wing device can generate a larger lift force than the previous model even though area of the new wing is about 50% less than that of the previous wing. In this work, effects of the wing clapping, the wing corrugation, and the input wave form on the lift force generation have been also experimentally investigated. Finally, the vortex generated by the flapping device has been captured by a high speed camera, showing that vortices are produced during up- and down-strokes.

• 유체기계공업학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2006.08a
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• pp.217-220
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• 2006

The lift and drag forces produced by a wing of a given cross-sectional profile are dependent on the wing planform and the angle of attack. Aspect ratio is the ratio of the wing span to the average chord. For conventional fixed wing aircrafts, high aspect ratio wings produce a higher lift to drag ratio than low ones for flight at subsonic speeds. Therefore, high aspect ratio wings are used on aircraft intended for long endurance. However, birds and insects flap their wings to fly in the air and they can change their wing motions. Their wing motions are made up of translation and rotation. Therefore, we tested flapping motions with parameters which affect rotational motion such as the angle of attack and the wing beat frequency. The half elliptic shaped wings were designed with the variation of aspect ratio from 4 to 11. The flapping device was operated in the water to reduce the wing beat frequency according to Reynolds similarity. In this study, the aerodynamic forces, the time-averaged force coefficients and the lift to drag ratio were measured at Reynolds number 15,000 to explore the aerodynamic characteristics with the variation of aspect ratio. The maximum lift coefficient was turned up at AR=8. The mean drag coefficients were almost same values at angle of attack from $10^{\circ}$ to $40^{\circ}$ regardless of aspect ratio, and the mean drag coefficients above angle of attack $50^{\circ}$ were decreased according to the increase of aspect ratio. For flapping motion the maximum mean lift to drag ratio appeared at AR=8.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.36 no.11
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• pp.1063-1071
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• 2008

A piezoceramic unimoph actuator can produce a relatively larger actuation force and actuation displacement when a proper compressive load is applied during operation, because the compressive stress causes material nonlinear behavior in the piezoceramic layer and triggers mechanical buckling. In this paper, we examined effects of the actuator under compression on the flapping angle and aerodynamic force generation capability. Effects of wing shape and passive wing rotation angle on the aerodynamic force production were also investigated. The average vertical force acquired by a 2D CFD simulation for an artificial wing showed a good agreement with the measured one by the experiment.

• Journal of Multimedia Information System
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.189-196
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• 2020

We have developed a device for recording biological data by inserting three electrodes and a needle with an angular velocity sensor into the moth for the purpose of measuring the electromyogram of the flapping and the corresponding lift force. With this measurement, it is possible to evaluate the moth-physiological function of moths, and the amount of pesticides that insects are exposed to (currently LD50-based standards), especially the amount of chronic low-concentration exposure, can be reduced the dose. We measured and recorded 2-channel electromyography (EMG) and angular velocity corresponding to pitch angle (pitch-like angle) associated with wing flapping for 100 sweet potato hawkmoths (50 females and 50 males) with the animals suspended and constrained in air. Overall, the angular velocity and amplitude of EMG signals demonstrated high correlation, with a correlation coefficient of R = 0.792. In contrast, the results of analysis performed on the peak-to-peak (PP) EMG intervals, which correspond to the RR intervals of ECG signals, indicated a correlation between ΔF fluctuation and angular velocity of R = 0.379. Thus, the accuracy of the regression curve was relatively poor. Using a DC amplification circuit without capacitive coupling as the EMG amplification circuit, we confirmed that the baseline changes at the gear change point of wing flapping. The following formula gives the lift provided by the wing: angular velocity × thoracic weight - air resistance - (eddy resistance due to turbulence). In future studies, we plan to attach a micro radio transmitter to the moths to gather data on potential energy, kinetic energy, and displacement during free flight for analysis. Such physiological functional evaluations of moths may alleviate damage to insect health due to repeated exposure to multiple agrochemicals and may lead to significant changes in the toxicity standards, which are currently based on LD50 values.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2004.11a
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• pp.1586-1591
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• 2004

Flow visualization experiments have been performed to investigate the effects of phase lag, reduced frequency qualitatively by examining wake pattern on a dragonfly type wing. The model was built with a scaled-up, flapping wings, composed of paired wings with fore- and hindwing in tandem, that mimicked the wing form of a dragonfly. The present study was conducted by using the smoke-wire technique, and an electronic device was mounted to find the exact positional angle of wing below the tandem wings, which amplitude is ranged from $-16.5^{\circ}$ to $+22.8^{\circ}$. Phase lag applied on the wings is $0^{\circ}$, $90^{\circ}$, $180^{\circ}$ and $270^{\circ}$. The reduced frequency is 0.15, 0.3 and 0.45 to investigate the effect of reduced frequency. It is inferred through observed wake pattern that the phase lag clearly plays an important role in the wake structures and in the flight efficiency as changing the interaction of wings. The reduced frequency also is closely related to wake pattern and determines flight efficiency.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.43-54
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• 2004

A visualization study was carried out to investigate the effects of phase difference qualitatively by examining wake pattern on the phase difference of a dragonfly type wing model. The model was built with scaled-up, flapping wings composed of a paired wing with fore- and hind-wings in tandem that mimick the wing form of a dragonfly. The present study was conducted by using the smoke-wire technique and an electronic device below the tandem wings was mounted to find the exact wing position angles. Uncertainties in wing position angle are about $\pm$$1.0^{\cire}$ and instantaneous wing positional angle varies from $-16.5^{\cire}$ to $+22.8^{\cire}$. The tests were made at phase differences between the fore-wing and hind-wing at $0^{\cire}$, $90^{\cire}$, $180^{\cire}$ and $270^{\cire}$. The results show that Karman vortex structures were produced at phase differences of $90^{\cire}$, $180^{\cire}$ and $270^{\cire}$, but Karman vortex structures were not observed at the phase difference of $0^{\cire}$.