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Biomimetics
Special Issues
Bio-Inspired Fluid Flows and Fluid Mechanics
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Bio-Inspired Fluid Flows and Fluid Mechanics

A special issue of Biomimetics (ISSN 2313-7673).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 August 2024) | Viewed by 5869

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Long Chen

E-Mail
Guest Editor
School of Transportation Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China
Interests: aerodynamics; animal flight; flapping wing; vortex dynamics; micro air vehicles
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Linlin Kang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Engineering, Westlake University, Hangzhou, China
Interests: swimming/flying; fluid-structure interaction; vortex dynamics; vortex-sound interaction

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Natural flyers and swimmers can accomplish highly agile maneuvers and thus serve as perfect archetypes for designing micro air vehicles and unmanned underwater vehicles. Their excellent performance is strongly supported by the interaction between their wings/fins and the fluids in the vicinity of their body motions; therefore, the development of such bio-inspired vehicles requires a thorough understanding of these bio-inspired fluid flows. The underlying aerodynamic/hydrodynamic mechanisms involve highly unsteady and strong vortical features, as well as fluid–structure interaction. These fundamental fluid physics have been extensively researched over the past two decades, but there remain some interesting areas in need of further study, such as complex wing/fin–wake interaction, wing/fin morphing, collective bio-locomotion, intricate maneuvers when facing an obstacle or being chased by a predator, noise production and reduction in the fluids, etc. Moreover, these aerodynamic/hydrodynamic mechanisms should be quantified and modeled, making them more easily applied to practical designs. Recently, the rapid growth of machine learning tools has provided more efficient solutions to model high-dimensional, nonlinear, and unsteady physics, such as vortical flow reconstruction, motion optimization, control design, etc. Thus, the scientific community must continue to extend these cutting-edge research fields and propose both novel explanations and useful design tools.

This Special Issue is dedicated to exploring the aerodynamics/hydrodynamics of bio-inspired fluid flows, as well as those related to bio-inspired micro air vehicles and unmanned underwater vehicles. Relevant aspects including fluid–structure interaction, neural–muscular–fluid coupling, flow sensing/control, etc., are also welcome.

Dr. Long Chen
Dr. Linlin Kang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Biomimetics is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • aerodynamics of flying animals
  • hydrodynamics of swimming animals
  • fluids of bio-inspired micro air vehicles and unmanned underwater vehicles
  • application of machine learning to bio-inspired fluids
  • fluid–structure interaction/fluid-structure-sound interactions in biological contexts
  • numerical modeling/experimental techniques for bio-inspired fluid mechanics
  • integrated research on neural, muscular, and fluid coupling
  • flow sensing and control inspired by nature

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 4740 KiB  
Article
Kinematics and Flow Field Analysis of Allomyrina dichotoma Flight
by Huan Shen, Kai Cao, Chao Liu, Zhiyuan Mao, Qian Li, Qingfei Han, Yi Sun, Zhikang Yang, Youzhi Xu, Shutao Wu, Jiajun Xu and Aihong Ji
Biomimetics 2024, 9(12), 777; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomimetics9120777 - 20 Dec 2024
Viewed by 569
Abstract
In recent years, bioinspired insect flight has become a prominent research area, with a particular focus on beetle-inspired aerial vehicles. Studying the unique flight mechanisms and structural characteristics of beetles has significant implications for the optimization of biomimetic flying devices. Among beetles, Allomyrina [...] Read more.
In recent years, bioinspired insect flight has become a prominent research area, with a particular focus on beetle-inspired aerial vehicles. Studying the unique flight mechanisms and structural characteristics of beetles has significant implications for the optimization of biomimetic flying devices. Among beetles, Allomyrina dichotoma (rhinoceros beetle) exhibits a distinct wing deployment–flight–retraction sequence, whereby the interaction between the hindwings and protective elytra contributes to lift generation and maintenance. This study investigates A. dichotoma’s wing deployment, flight, and retraction behaviors through motion analysis, uncovering the critical role of the elytra in wing folding. We capture the kinematic parameters throughout the entire flight process and develop an accurate kinematic model of A. dichotoma flight. Using smoke visualization, we analyze the flow field generated during flight, revealing the formation of enhanced leading-edge vortices and attached vortices during both upstroke and downstroke phases. These findings uncover the high-lift mechanism underlying A. dichotoma’s flight dynamics, offering valuable insights for optimizing beetle-inspired micro aerial vehicles. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bio-Inspired Fluid Flows and Fluid Mechanics)
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16 pages, 3034 KiB  
Article
Kinematic and Aerodynamic Analysis of a Coccinella septempunctata Performing Banked Turns in Climbing Flight
by Lili Yang, Zhifei Fang and Huichao Deng
Biomimetics 2024, 9(12), 720; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomimetics9120720 - 22 Nov 2024
Viewed by 712
Abstract
Many Coccinella septempunctata flights, with their precise positioning capabilities, have provided rich inspiration for designing insect-styled micro air vehicles. However, researchers have not widely studied their flight ability. In particular, research on the maneuverability of Coccinella septempunctata using integrated kinematics and aerodynamics is [...] Read more.
Many Coccinella septempunctata flights, with their precise positioning capabilities, have provided rich inspiration for designing insect-styled micro air vehicles. However, researchers have not widely studied their flight ability. In particular, research on the maneuverability of Coccinella septempunctata using integrated kinematics and aerodynamics is scarce. Using three orthogonally positioned high-speed cameras, we captured the Coccinella septempunctata’s banking turns in the climbing flight in the laboratory. We used the measured wing kinematics in a Navier–Stokes solver to compute the aerodynamic forces acting on the insects in five cycles. Coccinella septempunctata can rapidly climb and turn during phototaxis or avoidance of predators. During banked turning in climbing flight, the translational part of the body, and the distance flown forward and upward, is much greater than the distance flown to the right. The rotational part of the body, through banking and manipulating the amplitude of the insect flapping angle, the stroke deviation angle, and the rotation angle, actively creates the asymmetrical lift and drag coefficients of the left and right wings to generate right turns. By implementing banked turns during the climbing flight, the insect can adjust its flight path more flexibly to both change direction and maintain or increase altitude, enabling it to effectively avoid obstacles or track moving targets, thereby saving energy to a certain extent. This strategy is highly beneficial for insects flying freely in complex environments. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bio-Inspired Fluid Flows and Fluid Mechanics)
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15 pages, 11465 KiB  
Article
Data-Driven Sparse Sensor Placement Optimization on Wings for Flight-By-Feel: Bioinspired Approach and Application
by Alex C. Hollenbeck, Atticus J. Beachy, Ramana V. Grandhi and Alexander M. Pankonien
Biomimetics 2024, 9(10), 631; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomimetics9100631 - 17 Oct 2024
Viewed by 1261
Abstract
Flight-by-feel (FBF) is an approach to flight control that uses dispersed sensors on the wings of aircraft to detect flight state. While biological FBF systems, such as the wings of insects, often contain hundreds of strain and flow sensors, artificial systems are highly [...] Read more.
Flight-by-feel (FBF) is an approach to flight control that uses dispersed sensors on the wings of aircraft to detect flight state. While biological FBF systems, such as the wings of insects, often contain hundreds of strain and flow sensors, artificial systems are highly constrained by size, weight, and power (SWaP) considerations, especially for small aircraft. An optimization approach is needed to determine how many sensors are required and where they should be placed on the wing. Airflow fields can be highly nonlinear, and many local minima exist for sensor placement, meaning conventional optimization techniques are unreliable for this application. The Sparse Sensor Placement Optimization for Prediction (SSPOP) algorithm extracts information from a dense array of flow data using singular value decomposition and linear discriminant analysis, thereby identifying the most information-rich sparse subset of sensor locations. In this research, the SSPOP algorithm is evaluated for the placement of artificial hair sensors on a 3D delta wing model with a 45° sweep angle and a blunt leading edge. The sensor placement solution, or design point (DP), is shown to rank within the top one percent of all possible solutions by root mean square error in angle of attack prediction. This research is the first to evaluate SSPOP on a 3D model and the first to include variable length hairs for variable velocity sensitivity. A comparison of SSPOP against conventional greedy search and gradient-based optimization shows that SSPOP DP ranks nearest to optimal in over 90 percent of models and is far more robust to model variation. The successful application of SSPOP in complex 3D flows paves the way for experimental sensor placement optimization for artificial hair-cell airflow sensors and is a major step toward biomimetic flight-by-feel. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bio-Inspired Fluid Flows and Fluid Mechanics)
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19 pages, 18764 KiB  
Article
Unsteady Aerodynamic Forces of Tandem Flapping Wings with Different Forewing Kinematics
by Zengshuang Chen, Yuxin Xie and Xueguang Meng
Biomimetics 2024, 9(9), 565; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomimetics9090565 - 19 Sep 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1064
Abstract
Dragonflies can independently control the movement of their forewing and hindwing to achieve the desired flight. In comparison with previous studies that mostly considered the same kinematics of the fore- and hindwings, this paper focuses on the aerodynamic interference of three-dimensional tandem flapping [...] Read more.
Dragonflies can independently control the movement of their forewing and hindwing to achieve the desired flight. In comparison with previous studies that mostly considered the same kinematics of the fore- and hindwings, this paper focuses on the aerodynamic interference of three-dimensional tandem flapping wings when the forewing kinematics is different from that of the hindwing. The effects of flapping amplitude (Φ1), flapping mean angle (ϕ1¯), and pitch rotation duration (Δtr1) of the forewing, together with wing spacing (L) are examined numerically. The results show that Φ1 and ϕ1¯ have a significant effect on the aerodynamic forces of the individual and tandem systems, but Δtr1 has little effect. At a small L, a smaller Φ1, or larger ϕ1¯ of the forewing can increase the overall aerodynamic force, but at a large L, smaller Φ1 or larger ϕ1¯ can actually decrease the force. The flow field analysis shows that Φ1 and ϕ1¯ primarily alter the extent of the impact of the previously revealed narrow channel effect, downwash effect, and wake capture effect, thereby affecting force generation. These findings may provide a direction for designing the performance of tandem flapping wing micro-air vehicles by controlling forewing kinematics. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bio-Inspired Fluid Flows and Fluid Mechanics)
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21 pages, 5145 KiB  
Article
Effect of Trough Incidence Angle on the Aerodynamic Characteristics of a Biomimetic Leading-Edge Protuberanced (LEP) Wing at Various Turbulence Intensities
by Shanmugam Arunvinthan, Ponnusamy Gouri, Saravanan Divysha, RK Devadharshini and Rajan Nithya Sree
Biomimetics 2024, 9(6), 354; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomimetics9060354 - 12 Jun 2024
Viewed by 1259
Abstract
A series of wind tunnel tests were performed to investigate the effect of turbulent inflows on the aerodynamic characteristics of variously modified trough incident leading-edge-protuberanced (LEP) wing configurations at various turbulence intensities. A self-developed passive grid made of parallel arrays of round bars [...] Read more.
A series of wind tunnel tests were performed to investigate the effect of turbulent inflows on the aerodynamic characteristics of variously modified trough incident leading-edge-protuberanced (LEP) wing configurations at various turbulence intensities. A self-developed passive grid made of parallel arrays of round bars was placed at different locations of the wind tunnel to generate desired turbulence intensity. The aerodynamic forces acting over the trough incidence LEP wing configuration where obtained from surface pressure measurements made over the wing at different turbulence intensities using an MPS4264 Scanivalve simultaneous pressure scanner corresponding to a sampling frequency of 700 Hz. All the test models were tested at a wide range of angles of attack ranging between 0°≤α≤90° at turbulence intensities varying between 5.90% ≤ TI ≤ 10.54%. Results revealed that the time-averaged mean coefficient of lift (CL) increased with the increase in the turbulence intensity associated with smooth stall characteristics rendering the modified LEP test models advantageous. Furthermore, based on the surface pressure coefficients, the underlying dynamics behind the stall delay tendency were discussed. Additionally, attempts were made to statistically quantify the aerodynamic forces using standard deviation at both the pre-stall and the post-stall angles. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bio-Inspired Fluid Flows and Fluid Mechanics)
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