Abstract
In order to understand butterfly's flapping flight, necessary is an accurate numerical model, which requires small computational costs. This study makes a numerical model where the butterfly body is modeled by rigid bodies, and the fluid dynamics are calculated by panel method, which is a kind of vortex method based on the potential flow theory. In terms of fluid dynamics, forces applied to wings and the flow field are important. Therefore, results obtained by numerical simulation should agree with experiments. With respect to flow field, visualization of velocity vector field and isosurface of Q-criterion are used as the way to compare between experiments and simulations. In experiments, the motion of a butterfly, flow field, and fluid forces are obtained. The numerical results of the spatial pattern of induced flow and the vortex structures are in good agreement with experiments. In addition, the experiment, a model using viscous fluid and the panel method generate similar results in fluid forces. Hence the model in this study is appropriate for the purpose.
