Recent advances in flapping-wing aerodynamics: Mechanisms, kinematics, and bioinspired configurations

Flapping-wing aerodynamics governs the flight performance of insects, birds, and bioinspired micro air vehicles operating in low-Reynolds-number regimes. Unlike classical steady aerodynamics, flapping flight is dominated by unsteady vortex dynamics, including leading-edge vortex stabilization, rotational lift, wake capture, and wing–wake interactions. Over the past two decades, extensive experimental, numerical, and theoretical studies have improved understanding of these mechanisms, while advances in kinematic optimization, bioinspired wing geometry, and data-driven modeling have expanded the design space of flapping-wing micro air vehicles. Despite these developments, existing research remains fragmented across aerodynamic mechanisms, kinematic control, wing morphology, wake topology, and emerging artificial intelligence-based modeling approaches, limiting the development of unified physical insight and aerodynamic design strategies. This review synthesizes advances in flapping-wing aerodynamics through a mechanism-centered framework that adopts vortex dynamics and wake topology as the unifying physical perspective linking flapping kinematics to aerodynamic force generation. The review first examines the fundamental unsteady aerodynamic mechanisms governing lift and thrust production, followed by analyses of kinematic parameters, bioinspired wing geometry, and tandem-wing and environmental interaction effects. Wake topology classification and vortex-interaction physics are then discussed to clarify how flow organization governs aerodynamic loading. Finally, developments in data-driven and artificial intelligence-enabled modeling and control are reviewed to highlight how data-driven methods can complement physics-based understanding. By integrating aerodynamic mechanisms, kinematics, wing design, wake dynamics, and data-driven approaches within a unified framework, this review provides a physically grounded synthesis and insights for the aerodynamic design, kinematic optimization, and control of next-generation bioinspired micro air vehicles.