Structural Analysis of an Ornithopter Wing
摘要
An ornithopter is an aircraft that flies by flapping its wings and designers in their attempt seek to imitate the flapping wing flight of birds, bats, and insects. The shape and strength of ornithopter wings play a vital role in the development of bio-inspired flight. This study explores the use of Finite Element Analysis (FEA) for the structural integrity of an ornithopter wing. It has attempted to evaluate the behavior of the wings under operational conditions by analyzing stress, strain, and displacement of the wing. The results showed the varying distributions of stress, strain, and displacements across the length of the wing. The wing tip, which experiences the least aerodynamic forces, had the lowest strain values of 7.069 × 10–8, while the wing attachment point, where structural integrity is most important, had the highest strain value of 0.00083. The stress study showed a maximum stress of 165.9 MPa at a fixed location of wing, while the tip had a low stress of 0.000166 MPa. The displacement analysis revealed a maximum displacement of 46.229 mm at the tip.