Flapping-Wing Structural Dynamics Formulation Based on a Corotational Shell Finite Element

Flexible flapping wings have garnered a large amount of attention within the micro aerial vehicle community: a critical component of computational micro aerial vehicle simulations is the representation of the structural dynamics behavior of the flapping-wing structure. This paper discusses the development of a new nonlinear finite element solver that is based on a corotational approach and suitable for simulating flapping plate/shell-like wing structures undergoing small strains and large displacements/rotations. Partial verification and validation studies are presented on rectangular/elliptic wing structures to test the rigid body kinematics, nonlinear statics, and dynamics capabilities of the solver. Results obtained showed good agreement with available analytical/experimental/commercial solutions. The new structural dynamics formulation along with the numerical test cases contribute to the very limited set of tools and examples existing in the flapping-wing micro aerial vehicle literature.