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

Chapter 3.0 Vehicle Design
3.3 Wing Aerodynamics
Figure 3-97: U Velocity Contours at Span Location z = -0.26
Figure 3-98: U Velocity Contours at Span Location z = -0.5
3.3.1.5.4
Having demonstrated the steady state case performance expected for the point solution, this section
provides a summary of the approach and results achieved when the dimension of flapping is
added to the CFD analysis.
All parameters remain the same as the steady state case except that the wing is now modeled as
flapping over a 150° angle at a rate of 6 Hz. The wing also undergoes pitching motions as per the
parameters presented in the introduction to the CDF analyses. In earlier simulations, Metacomp
Technology’s approach was to construct two meshes. The inner mesh enclosed the wing and had
a spherical outer boundary. The outer boundary was a full sphere even though the wing was situated
only on one side. In the current simulation, a single mesh has been used. This single mesh
was subjected to flapping and pitching motions in its entirety. The computational region of inter-
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