Aerodynamic Characteristics of Insect Sized AR = 1 Rectangular Wing

Abstract

The objective of this study is to ascertain the aerodynamic characteristics of a low aspect ratio wing at Reynolds number Re ≦ 1 × 104 by conducting the wind tunnel test. The effects of the wing planform with the small aspect ratio at very low Reynolds numbers which correspond to an insect flight are largely unknown. The thin flat plate having rectangular planform with aspect ratio (AR) of 1 was selected as the wing model. Although the small lift slope and the large maximum lift coefficient provided by the additional vortex lift were obtained at Re = 1 × 104, the maximum lift coefficient decreased as the Reynolds number decreased and the additional vortex lift component was hardly seen at Re = 1 × 103.