Numerical investigation on aerodynamic characteristics of dragonfly corrugated airfoils in gliding and flapping flight

ZHI Qidi; Shi Zhiwei; WANG Lishuang; CHEN Sinuo

doi:10.7638/kqdlxxb-2024.0128

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Numerical investigation on aerodynamic characteristics of dragonfly corrugated airfoils in gliding and flapping flight

更新时间：2026-05-28

- Numerical investigation on aerodynamic characteristics of dragonfly corrugated airfoils in gliding and flapping flight
- Vol. 43, Issue 11, Pages: 16-26(2025)
- 作者机构：
  
  南京航空航天大学航空学院,南京,210016
- 作者简介：
- 基金信息：
- DOI：10.7638/kqdlxxb-2024.0128
  CLC： V211.3;Q811.6
- Published：2025
- 稿件说明：
移动端阅览
职启迪, 史志伟, 王力爽, 等. 仿蜻蜓褶皱翼滑翔与扑动气动特性的数值研究[J]. 空气动力学学报, 2025, 43(11): 16−26.

ZHI Qidi, Shi Zhiwei, WANG Lishuang, et al. Numerical investigation on aerodynamic characteristics of dragonfly corrugated airfoils in gliding and flapping flight[J]. 2025, 43(11): 16-26.
职启迪, 史志伟, 王力爽, 等. 仿蜻蜓褶皱翼滑翔与扑动气动特性的数值研究[J]. 空气动力学学报, 2025, 43(11): 16−26. DOI： 10.7638/kqdlxxb-2024.0128

ZHI Qidi, Shi Zhiwei, WANG Lishuang, et al. Numerical investigation on aerodynamic characteristics of dragonfly corrugated airfoils in gliding and flapping flight[J]. 2025, 43(11): 16-26. DOI： 10.7638/kqdlxxb-2024.0128.

摘要

蜻蜓是自然界中飞行能力极为出色的一种扑翼昆虫，其翅膀上分布着明显的褶皱结构。为了探究不同的褶皱分布形式对翼型气动特性的影响，本文参考蜻蜓翅膀设计了前缘褶皱、后缘褶皱、全褶皱与平板4种翼型，采用计算流体力学方法，针对滑翔和扑动两种飞行姿态分析了低雷诺数环境下（

1000

～ 2000）翼型的气动特性。结果表明：在滑翔状态下，褶皱回流区内会产生负摩擦阻力，前缘褶皱翼型具有更低的阻力，后缘褶皱翼型则具有更高的升力与升阻比。在迎角10°时，后缘褶皱相对平板翼型的时均升力系数提高了23.1%，时均升阻比提高了9.1%；在大迎角下，褶皱对升阻比几乎没有影响。流场分析显示，后缘褶皱增大了前缘涡的强度，提高了褶皱上游的表面压强差。在扑动状态下，后缘褶皱可以降低上扑冲程产生的负升力，从而提高周期平均升力。在此基础上，全褶皱翼型因上下冲程启动阶段更为明显的旋转环流机制而具有最大的周期平均升力。本研究表明，调整褶皱分布形式是实现翼型气动优化的有效方案。

Abstract

The dragonfly is a flapping insect with excellent flying capabilities in nature

and its wings feature prominent corrugated structures. In this study

different types of corrugated airfoils

i.e. corrugation at the leading edge

corrugation at the trailing edge and corrugation along the whole chord are designed and compared with their smooth counterpart to investigate the effect of corrugation distribution on the aerodynamic characteristics of airfoils. Both gliding phase and f

lapping phase are simulated with the method of computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The chord Reynolds number (

) based on the incoming velocity is varied from

1000

to 2000. The results show that

in the gliding phase

the recirculation zones formed within the corrugation produce negative frictional drag. The leading-edge corrugated airfoil has lower drag while the trailing-edge corrugated airfoil has higher lift and lift-to-drag ratio. The time-averaged lift coefficient and lift-to-drag ratio of the trailing-edge corrugated airfoil are increased by 23.1% and 9.1% respectively compared with the flat airfoil at $\alpha = 10^\circ $. While at higher angles of attack

the aerodynamic characteristics of all airfoils are similar. Flow analysis shows that the trailing-edge corrugation increases the strength of leading-edge vortex (LEV) and the surface pressure difference upstream. In the flapping phase

the trailing-edge corrugation can decrease the negative lift generated in the upstroke

thereby increasing the cyclic-averaged lift. And the airfoil with corrugation along the whole chord has the highest cyclic-averaged lift because of stronger rotational circulation. This study suggests that it is an effective scheme to improve aerodynamic characteristics of airfoil by adjusting the corrugation distribution.

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