Growth of Vorticity of a Moving Elastic Airfoil and Their Characteristics of Dynamic Forces

Many studies on the flow field around moving airfoils have been carried out using experimental and numerical approaches. These flow fields are a typical example of unsteady flow and have thus attracted attention. The present authors have previously qualitatively and quantitatively characterized vortex structures that form in the wake of a rigid airfoil with pitching, heaving, and a combination of both motions. The flow field around an elastic moving body has recently attracted attention from the viewpoint of insect flight, aquatic animal swimming, and the development of micro air vehicles. The flow field around an elastic body can be modeled as a coupled problem between the fluid and structure (fluid/structure interaction, FSI), with a series of phenomena, motions, structural deformations, and the generation, growth, and development of vortices repeated continuously. Now, we are trying to understand the growth of the vorticity of the elastic moving airfoil and their characteristics of the dynamic forces using not only the PIV measurement but also the Fluid-Structure interaction simulation by ANSYS/ANSYS-CFX