Fluid–structure interactions of bristled wings: the trade-off between weight and drag.

TY - JOUR

T1 - Fluid–structure interactions of bristled wings: the trade-off between weight and drag.

AU - Lin, Yuexia

AU - Pezzulla, Matteo

AU - M. Reis, Pedro

PY - 2023/9/13

Y1 - 2023/9/13

N2 - The smallest flying insects often have bristled wings resembling feathers or combs. We combined experiments and three-dimensional numerical simulations to investigate the trade-off between wing weight and drag generation. In experiments of bristled strips, a reduced physical model of the bristled wing, we found that the elasto-viscous number indicates when reconfiguration occurs in the bristles. Analysis of existing biological data suggested that bristled wings of miniature insects lie below the reconfiguration threshold, thus avoiding drag reduction. Numerical simulations of bristled strips showed that there exist optimal numbers of bristles that maximize the weighted drag when the additional volume due to the bristles is taken into account. We found a scaling relationship between the rescaled optimal numbers and the dimensionless bristle length. This result agrees qualitatively with and provides an upper bound for the bristled wing morphological data analysed in this study.

AB - The smallest flying insects often have bristled wings resembling feathers or combs. We combined experiments and three-dimensional numerical simulations to investigate the trade-off between wing weight and drag generation. In experiments of bristled strips, a reduced physical model of the bristled wing, we found that the elasto-viscous number indicates when reconfiguration occurs in the bristles. Analysis of existing biological data suggested that bristled wings of miniature insects lie below the reconfiguration threshold, thus avoiding drag reduction. Numerical simulations of bristled strips showed that there exist optimal numbers of bristles that maximize the weighted drag when the additional volume due to the bristles is taken into account. We found a scaling relationship between the rescaled optimal numbers and the dimensionless bristle length. This result agrees qualitatively with and provides an upper bound for the bristled wing morphological data analysed in this study.

KW - bristled wings

KW - drag of porous structures

KW - fluid-structure interactions

KW - insect flight

KW - reconfiguration

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85171119584&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1098/rsif.2023.0266

DO - 10.1098/rsif.2023.0266

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 37700710

SN - 1742-5689

VL - 20

JO - Journal of the Royal Society Interface

JF - Journal of the Royal Society Interface

IS - 206

M1 - 20230266

ER -