Experimental investigation on aerodynamic characteristics of flexible wing MAV under horizontal gust

Abstract

A flexible wing micro air vehicle and a rigid wing micro air vehicle, both with flying wing designs, were designed and developed, and the aerodynamic characteristics of the flexible micro air vehicle and the rigid micro air vehicle under steady wind and horizontal gust were studied in a wind tunnel. The difference in aerodynamic characteristics between flexible wing and rigid wing micro air vehicles was given. The research results showed that the aerodynamic characteristics of a flexible wing were better than those of a rigid wing under both steady wind and horizontal gust environments, and a flexible wing had the ability to delay stall and mitigate the impact of gust, which was beneficial to stable flight. The particle image velocimetry measurement results showed that due to the deformation of the flexible wing, the flow patterns on the rigid wing and flexible wing surfaces were different, resulting in changes in the aerodynamic characteristics of micro air vehicles.