23rd Congress of International Council of the Aeronautical Sciences, 8-13 September, 2002, Toronto, Canada
Paper ICAS 2002-8.1.4

OPTIMIZATION OF FLAPPING WING MOTION

K. Ito
University of Tokyo, Japan

Keywords: vortex lattice method, genetic algorithms, sequential quadratic programming, neural network, unsteady aerodynamics

This paper presents an application of Genetic Algorithm and Sequential Quadratic Programming to optimizing flapping wings' thrust performance. A rigid rectangular-planform plate was numerically modeled using a vortex lattice method. Optimum combination of flapping frequency, flapping amplitude, pitch amplitude and phase difference between pitching and heaving that gave maximum efficiency for a given thrust was found.

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