A Physics- and Data-Driven Study on the Ground Effect on the Propulsive Performance of Tandem Flapping Wings

In this paper, we present a physics- and data-driven study on the ground effect on the propulsive performance of tandem flapping wings. With numerical simulations, the impact of the ground effect on the aerodynamic force, energy consumption, and efficiency is analyzed, revealing a unique coupling ef...

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Main Authors: Ningyu Duan, Chao Wang, Jianyou Zhou, Pan Jia, Zheng Zhong
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024-11-01
Series:Aerospace
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2226-4310/11/11/904
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author Ningyu Duan
Chao Wang
Jianyou Zhou
Pan Jia
Zheng Zhong
author_facet Ningyu Duan
Chao Wang
Jianyou Zhou
Pan Jia
Zheng Zhong
author_sort Ningyu Duan
collection DOAJ
description In this paper, we present a physics- and data-driven study on the ground effect on the propulsive performance of tandem flapping wings. With numerical simulations, the impact of the ground effect on the aerodynamic force, energy consumption, and efficiency is analyzed, revealing a unique coupling effect between the ground effect and the wing–wing interference. It is found that, for smaller phase differences between the front and rear wings, the thrust is higher, and the boosting effect due to the ground on the rear wing (maximum of 12.33%) is lower than that on a single wing (maximum of 43.83%) For a larger phase difference, a lower thrust is observed, and it is also found that the boosting effect on the rear wing is above that on a single wing. Further, based on the bidirectional gate recurrent units (BiGRUs) time-series neural network, a surrogate model is further developed to predict the unsteady aerodynamic characteristics of tandem flapping wings under the ground effect. The surrogate model exhibits high predictive precision for aerodynamic forces, energy consumption, and efficiency. On the test set, the relative errors of the time-averaged values range from −4% to 2%, while the root mean squared error of the transient values is less than 0.1. Meanwhile, it should be pointed out that the established surrogate model also demonstrates strong generalization capability. The findings contribute to a comprehensive understanding of the ground effect mechanism and provide valuable insights for the aerodynamic design of tandem flapping-wing air vehicles operating near the ground.
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spelling doaj-art-93587daf4d97440aacdaa122c6a475bc2025-08-20T02:08:11ZengMDPI AGAerospace2226-43102024-11-01111190410.3390/aerospace11110904A Physics- and Data-Driven Study on the Ground Effect on the Propulsive Performance of Tandem Flapping WingsNingyu Duan0Chao Wang1Jianyou Zhou2Pan Jia3Zheng Zhong4School of Science, Harbin Institute of Technology, Shenzhen 518055, ChinaSchool of Mechanical Engineering, Dongguan University of Technology, Dongguan 523808, ChinaSchool of Science, Harbin Institute of Technology, Shenzhen 518055, ChinaSchool of Science, Harbin Institute of Technology, Shenzhen 518055, ChinaSchool of Science, Harbin Institute of Technology, Shenzhen 518055, ChinaIn this paper, we present a physics- and data-driven study on the ground effect on the propulsive performance of tandem flapping wings. With numerical simulations, the impact of the ground effect on the aerodynamic force, energy consumption, and efficiency is analyzed, revealing a unique coupling effect between the ground effect and the wing–wing interference. It is found that, for smaller phase differences between the front and rear wings, the thrust is higher, and the boosting effect due to the ground on the rear wing (maximum of 12.33%) is lower than that on a single wing (maximum of 43.83%) For a larger phase difference, a lower thrust is observed, and it is also found that the boosting effect on the rear wing is above that on a single wing. Further, based on the bidirectional gate recurrent units (BiGRUs) time-series neural network, a surrogate model is further developed to predict the unsteady aerodynamic characteristics of tandem flapping wings under the ground effect. The surrogate model exhibits high predictive precision for aerodynamic forces, energy consumption, and efficiency. On the test set, the relative errors of the time-averaged values range from −4% to 2%, while the root mean squared error of the transient values is less than 0.1. Meanwhile, it should be pointed out that the established surrogate model also demonstrates strong generalization capability. The findings contribute to a comprehensive understanding of the ground effect mechanism and provide valuable insights for the aerodynamic design of tandem flapping-wing air vehicles operating near the ground.https://www.mdpi.com/2226-4310/11/11/904tandem wingsground effectpropulsive performancebidirectional gate recurrent unitsurrogate model
spellingShingle Ningyu Duan
Chao Wang
Jianyou Zhou
Pan Jia
Zheng Zhong
A Physics- and Data-Driven Study on the Ground Effect on the Propulsive Performance of Tandem Flapping Wings
Aerospace
tandem wings
ground effect
propulsive performance
bidirectional gate recurrent unit
surrogate model
title A Physics- and Data-Driven Study on the Ground Effect on the Propulsive Performance of Tandem Flapping Wings
title_full A Physics- and Data-Driven Study on the Ground Effect on the Propulsive Performance of Tandem Flapping Wings
title_fullStr A Physics- and Data-Driven Study on the Ground Effect on the Propulsive Performance of Tandem Flapping Wings
title_full_unstemmed A Physics- and Data-Driven Study on the Ground Effect on the Propulsive Performance of Tandem Flapping Wings
title_short A Physics- and Data-Driven Study on the Ground Effect on the Propulsive Performance of Tandem Flapping Wings
title_sort physics and data driven study on the ground effect on the propulsive performance of tandem flapping wings
topic tandem wings
ground effect
propulsive performance
bidirectional gate recurrent unit
surrogate model
url https://www.mdpi.com/2226-4310/11/11/904
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