Fluid-structure interaction on flapping wings

The flow around flapping wings allows them to create high lift using various of unsteady flow phenomena. Adding flexibility to the wing can help to reduce drag and increase performance. At TU Delft, we are investigating flapping wings and the implication of flexibility in these wings. The high, nonlinear deformations of these wings require a strongly coupled simulation to find a solution. For this means a framework is set up using CalculiX and OpenFOAM, coupled with preCICE. For this work, the OpenFOAM adapter was extended to support force and displacement coupling in FSI simulations. The large number of coupling functionalities in preCICE gives the user the opportunity to build advanced and scalable simulations with ease. Learn more

- Derek Risseeuw
Aerodynamics, Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, TU Delft, The Netherlands