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9. Hindwing Aerodynamics in Oviposition Flight of the Damselfly (Neurobasis chinensis)

Presenters Name: 
Andreas Damm
Co Presenters Name: 
Primary Research Mentor: 
Haibo Dong
Secondary Research Mentor: 
Ayodeji Bode-oke
Session: 
1
Grant Program Recipient: 
USOAR Program
Abstract: 

Damselflies have four wings that are controlled independently during flight. The fore and hindwings typically beat out of phase and the interactions which enhance or attenuate flight forces of the wing pairs is phase dependent. During oviposition, however, there exists a species (Neurobasis chinensis) that flies by beating only the forewings while the hindwings are kept outstretched and stationary. Through analysis using computational fluid dynamics, our lab has studied the passive benefits incurred on the hindwing’s aerodynamic performance during this manner of flight. The hindwing, when sufficiently close to the oscillating forewing, will benefit from the flow induced on it by the leading-edge vortex created during the forewing’s upstroke, which creates a pressure gradient across the hindwing. Although we have already reached a general understanding of the reasoning behind the passive lift contribution of the hindwing, how the damselfly is able to optimize this behavior in the wild is still unknown. In an effort to explore this optimization problem, we have broadened the scope of our research, exploring the orientation of the hindwing in its angle of attack, sweep angle, and dihedral angle to determine the ideal case for maximizing lift production. These values will be compared with the video and photographic evidence of this behavior in nature, to determine how well the damselfly optimizes this behavior for the purpose of lift production.