A Parametric Study on the Propulsion Performance of MAVs flapping foils

In this paper, Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI) investigations have been conducted to analyze the aerodynamic characteristics of flapping airfoil in Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAVs). The airfoil synchronously performs pitching (rotational) and heaving (vertical) motions. Several reduced frequencies and pitching point-pivot locations simulated different motion trajectories. A symmetrical airfoil (NACA0012) was utilized at a low Reynolds number (Re = 10000) to mimic the motion of small creatures and flapping airfoils of MAVs. It was observed that the thrust coefficients were increased with increasing the reduced frequencies. While, the propulsive efficiency increased to its optimum value at a reduced frequency of 0.28, then dropped after increasing the reduced frequency to 0.38. Furthermore, single vortices appear, and symmetric vortex shedding was observed near the horizontal pitch axis.