Aerodynamic Effects of Corrugation on Dragonfly Hindwing

Abstract

To study aerodynamic performance of the dragonfly wing at gliding flight at different Reynolds numbers, a three-dimensional model of the dragonfly hindwing with corrugation and a three-dimensional flat plate with the same shape of the dragonfly hindwing are established. The aerodynamic effects of corrugation at gliding motion are studied using the method of computational fluid dynamics, in the Reynolds number range of 1 000 to 10 000 and angles of attack changing from 0° to 25°(with an interval of 5°). Results show that the effect of corrugation is to increase both lift and drag to varying degrees; the aerodynamic effect of wing corrugation might be Reynolds numbers dependent. While Re=1 000, aerodynamic performance of the dragonfly hindwing is slightly better than the flat plate over the entire range of parameters tested; the effect of corrugation depends on the angle of attack, while at a higher angle of attack, aerodynamic performance of the dragonfly hindwing is slightly better than the flat plate.

Keywords

• hindwing of dragonfly
• reynolds number
• gliding flight
• corrugation
• computational fluid dynamics(cfd)