Exploiting nonlinearity in a flapping wing mechanism of a bio inspired micro air vehicle to enhance energy efficiency

Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, University College London (UCL), Roberts Engineering Building, London, UK WC1E 7JE

^* Corresponding author: a.abolfathi@ucl.ac.uk

Abstract

In recent years, there was a great interest in developing flying drones with similar capabilities as flying insects. It is suggested that the flapping frequency of insects coincides with the resonance frequency of their flight mechanism to enhance the power consumptions. In this paper, the effect of nonlinearity in the flight mechanism on the power consumption is investigated. A simple nonlinear model of the insect flight mechanism is developed and normalised to study the effect of different parameters on its performance. Both bistable and hardening nonlinearity are considered. It is shown that for a harmonic loading, the bistable systems reach their peak power at lower frequencies when compared to the corresponding linear system. The maximum power factor of nonlinear oscillator would be lower than the liner one. It is also shown that the peak active power of the bistable system has a higher value than the linear system if the loading function is a pulse square signal.