Affiliation:
1. Department of Biology, Portland State University, P.O. Box 751, Portland, Oregon 97207
Abstract
The aerodynamic properties of bird wings were examined at Reynolds numbers of 1-5 × 104 and were correlated with morphological parameters such as apsect ratio, camber, nose radius and position of maximum thickness. The many qualitative differences between the aerodynamic properties of bird, insect and aeroplane wings are attributable mainly to their differing Reynolds numbers. Bird wings, which operate at lower Reynolds numbers than aerofoils, have high minimum drag coefficients (0·03-0·13), low maximum lift coefficients (0·8-1·2) and low maximum lift/drag ratios (3–17). Bird and insect wings have low aerofoil efficiency factors (0·2-0·8) compared to conventional aerofoils (0·9-0·95) because of their low Reynolds numbers and high profile drag, rather than because of a reduced mechanical efficiency of animal wings.
For bird wings there is clearly a trade-off between lift and drag performance. Bird wings with low drag generally had low maximum lift coefficients whereas wings with high maximum lift coefficients had high drag coefficients. The pattern of air flow over bird wings, as indicated by pressure-distribution data, is consistent with aerodynamic theory for aeroplane wings at low Reynolds numbers, and with the observed lift and drag coefficients.
Publisher
The Company of Biologists
Subject
Insect Science,Molecular Biology,Animal Science and Zoology,Aquatic Science,Physiology,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Cited by
74 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献