Integrated modeling of insect flight: From morphology, kinematics to aerodynamics

An integrated and rigorous model for the simulation of insect flapping flight is addressed. The method is very versatile, easily integrating the modeling of realistic wing–body morphology, realistic flapping-wing and body kinematics, and unsteady aerodynamics in insect flight. A morphological model is built based on an effective differential geometric method for reconstructing geometry of and a specific grid generator for the wings and body; and a kinematic model is constructed capable to mimic the realistic wing–body kinematics of flapping flight. A fortified FVM-based NS solver for dynamically moving multi-blocked, overset-grid systems is developed and verified to be self-consistent by a variety of benchmark tests; and evaluation of flapping energetics is established on inertial and aerodynamic forces, torques and powers. Validation of this integrated insect dynamic flight simulator is achieved by comparisons of aerodynamic force-production with measurements in terms of the time-varying and mean lift and drag forces. Results for three typical insect hovering flights (hawkmoth, honeybee and fruitfly) over a wide rang of Reynolds numbers from O(102) to O(104) demonstrate its feasibility in accurately modeling and quantitatively evaluating the unsteady aerodynamic mechanisms in insect flapping flight.