Minimizing Fixed-Wing Flight Costs in Turbulence through Passive Stability: Insights from the Avian Wing Aerodynamics

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: Chen, Lunbing, Qin, Suyang, Huang, Jinpeng, Yin, Yufei, Xiang, Yang, Liu, Hong
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2025
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author Chen, Lunbing
Qin, Suyang
Huang, Jinpeng
Yin, Yufei
Xiang, Yang
Liu, Hong
author_facet Chen, Lunbing
Qin, Suyang
Huang, Jinpeng
Yin, Yufei
Xiang, Yang
Liu, Hong
contents Birds rely on active high-acceleration morphing and flapping to navigate complex airflows, but they can also maintain stable fixed-wing postures under persistent atmospheric disturbances. Here, we show that avian wings exhibit aerodynamic adaptivity to incoming flow variations, characterized by a gentler lift curve slope, a wider operative angle of attack range, and turbulence insensitivity, compared to engineered airfoil wings across varying angles of attack and turbulence intensities. This adaptivity stems from the consistent flow structures around avian wings under different turbulence intensities and their ability to suppress flow separation at high angles of attack. Longitudinal dynamic stability analysis further reveals that avian aerodynamic characteristics enable the corresponding modeled rigid flyers to maintain a broader stability envelope. This stability supports stable fixed-wing flight in real turbulent environments while reducing the need for active control, thereby minimizing flight cost.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2507_14550
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Minimizing Fixed-Wing Flight Costs in Turbulence through Passive Stability: Insights from the Avian Wing Aerodynamics
Chen, Lunbing
Qin, Suyang
Huang, Jinpeng
Yin, Yufei
Xiang, Yang
Liu, Hong
Fluid Dynamics
Birds rely on active high-acceleration morphing and flapping to navigate complex airflows, but they can also maintain stable fixed-wing postures under persistent atmospheric disturbances. Here, we show that avian wings exhibit aerodynamic adaptivity to incoming flow variations, characterized by a gentler lift curve slope, a wider operative angle of attack range, and turbulence insensitivity, compared to engineered airfoil wings across varying angles of attack and turbulence intensities. This adaptivity stems from the consistent flow structures around avian wings under different turbulence intensities and their ability to suppress flow separation at high angles of attack. Longitudinal dynamic stability analysis further reveals that avian aerodynamic characteristics enable the corresponding modeled rigid flyers to maintain a broader stability envelope. This stability supports stable fixed-wing flight in real turbulent environments while reducing the need for active control, thereby minimizing flight cost.
title Minimizing Fixed-Wing Flight Costs in Turbulence through Passive Stability: Insights from the Avian Wing Aerodynamics
topic Fluid Dynamics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.14550