A model coupling biomechanics and fluid dynamics for the simulation of controlled flapping flight

This paper proposes a multiphysics computational framework coupling bio-mechanics and aerodynamics for the simulation of bird flight. It features a bio-mechanical model based on the anatomy of a bird, that models the bones and feathers of the wing. The aerodynamic solver relies on a vortex particle-mesh method and represents the wing through an immersed lifting line, acting like a source of vorticity in the flow. An application of the numerical tool is presented in the modeling of the flight of a Northern Bald Ibis (Geronticus Eremita). The wing kinematics are imposed based on biological observations and controllers are developed to enable stable flight in closed-loop. Their design is based on a linearized model of flapping flight dynamics. The controller solves an under-determination in the control parameters through minimization. The tool and the controllers are used in two simulations: a first where the bird has to trim itself at a given flight speed, and another where it has to accelerate from a trimmed state to another at a higher speed. The bird wake is accurately represented. It is analyzed and compared to the widespread frozen-wake assumption, highlighting phenomena that the latter can not capture. The method also allows the computation of the aerodynamic forces experienced by the flier, either through the lifting line method or through control-volume analysis. The computed power requirements at several flight speeds exhibit an order of magnitude and dependency on velocity in agreement with the literature.

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Colognesi, V., Ronsse, R., & Chatelain, P. (2021). A model coupling biomechanics and fluid dynamics for the simulation of controlled flapping flight. Bioinspiration & Biomimetics : learning from nature, 16(2), 26023. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-3190/abdd9c (Original work published 2021)