Phase II Final Report - NASA's Institute for Advanced Concepts

Planetary Exploration Using Biomimetics
An Entomopter for Flight on Mars
A set of 3D cases was run with the same conditions as of the 2D case, and for the same angles of
attack. A triangular mesh with 119,105 cells was used. The meshing was much denser near the
airfoil surface than in the previous mesh. Figure 3-59 shows the airfoil with the new grid.
Figure 3-59: Airfoil with New, Finer Triangular Mesh
To determine the effect of thickness on the lift and drag coefficients, another set of cases was run
for an infinitesimally thin airfoil. Figure 3-60 shows the airfoil used for these cases. Eight cases
were run with the same conditions as used previously and given in Table 3-5.
Figure 3-60: Cambered, Zero-thickness Airfoil
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Phase II Final Report