Bat flight generates complex aerodynamic tracks
Författare
Summary, in English
The flapping flight of animals generates an aerodynamic footprint as a time-varying vortex wake in which the rate of momentum change represents the aerodynamic force. We showed that the wakes of a small bat species differ from those of birds in some important respects. In our bats, each wing generated its own vortex loop. Also, at moderate and high flight speeds, the circulation on the outer ( hand) wing and the arm wing differed in sign during the upstroke, resulting in negative lift on the hand wing and positive lift on the arm wing. Our interpretations of the unsteady aerodynamic performance and function of membranous-winged, flapping flight should change modeling strategies for the study of equivalent natural and engineered flying devices.
Avdelning/ar
Publiceringsår
2007
Språk
Engelska
Sidor
894-897
Publikation/Tidskrift/Serie
Science
Volym
316
Issue
5826
Dokumenttyp
Artikel i tidskrift
Förlag
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Ämne
- Biological Sciences
Status
Published
Forskningsgrupp
- Animal Flight Lab
ISBN/ISSN/Övrigt
- ISSN: 1095-9203