A CFD Investigation of Dragonfly Flight: Aerodynamic Analysis of Corrugated Wings Using Static and Dynamic Meshing in OpenFOAM

For decades, researchers have attempted to synthesize the flight maneuverability of the dragonfly through various experimental methods. The biological and structural properties of dragonflies – particularly their highly corrugated wing pattern, as well as their agile flight mechanics – reveal desirable aerodynamic capabilities to reproduce, such as by micro air vehicles (MAV) which have long been central to the discussion of related experimental applications. However, a particular challenge in replicating such flight characteristics appears as the specific stroke patterning of flexible dragonfly wings retain many degrees of freedom and have yet to be fully understood. While studies exist on the flapping mechanics of rigid wing aerodynamics that yield reasonably approximate solutions to the Navier-Stokes Equations, many use highly simplified wing structures, proving insufficient to meet the objective of replicating dragonfly flight. Thereby, we employ an investigation into the application of dynamic meshing and adaptive meshing refinement techniques using OpenFOAM to analyze 3D gliding flight of fully reconstructed Odonata wings. By using a static meshing technique to simulate the fidelity of our method, we developed our dynamic meshing technique with the construction of an Arbitrary Mesh Interface (AMI), allowing control over key kinematic factors of our flight mechanics. The results of our simulations on an Orthetrum caledonicum forewing and hindwing yield CL and CD values with fixed and variable angle of attack as well as respective flow visualization of the flapping motion. Further, this study serves as justification for the application of dynamic meshing to engage the full control over complex dragonfly flapping patterns if applicable, and bolster insights to modeling complex flight patterns of biological systems and advanced MAVs.