Numerical simulation of a flapping wing MAV based on wing deformation capture analysis

3D Numerical simulations of a biplane flapping wing MAV have been performed using an immersed boundary method Navier-Stokes finite volume solver. To obtain a realistic simulation, the wing deformation has been captured using a stereo-vision system. The raw data obtained is further post-processed using Kriging interpolation and the results with and without the interpolation are compared. Results show that Kriging interpolation gives smoother force variation and is able to give reasonable converged solution using only ten wing positions (frames) over one period. The simulation results managed to capture the first peak of the experimental force results both in terms of approximate location and magnitude. However, the simulation only managed to capture the second peak in term of location; its magnitude is smaller than the experimental force. Various reasons for the discrepancies have been discussed. Nevertheless, the simulations reveal strong leading edge and tip vortices, which will enable us to get a better understanding of the underlying flapping wing aerodynamics.