Simulations of dynamics of plunge and pitch of a three-dimensional flexible wing in a low Reynolds number flow

The lattice Boltzmann flexible particle method (LBFPM) is used to simulate fluid-structure interaction and motion of a flexible wing in a three-dimensional space. In the method, a beam with rectangular cross section has been discretized into a chain of rigid segments. The segments are connected through ball and socket joints at their ends and may be bent and twisted. Deformation of flexible structure is treated with a linear elasticity model through bending and twisting. It is demonstrated that the flexible particle method (FPM) can approximate the nonlinear Euler-Bernoulli beam equation without resorting to a nonlinear elasticity model. Simulations of plunge and pitch of flexible wing at Reynolds number Re=136 are conducted in hovering condition by using the LBFPM. It is found that both lift and drag forces increase first, then decrease dramatically as the bending rigidity in spanwise direction decreases and that the lift and drag forces are sensitive to rigidity in a certain range. It is shown that the downwash flows induced by wing tip and trailing vortices in wake area are larger for a flexible wing than for a rigid wing, lead to a smaller effective angle of attack, and result in a larger lift force. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.3481786]