Presentations

This paper presents a method to calculate the pressure field from the far-field to the near-surface of a periodically moving plate. The flow around a simple sinusoidally flapping plate was measured to investigate the dynamics of flow separation and its connection to the production of force of a flapping wing. The flow was measured using stereo PIV at different (out-of-plane) positions relative to the plate to resolve the deformation tensor. Torque acting on the rotation axis was estimated from the velocity field data by solving the pressure equation expressed in the form of Poisson equation. The results were compared with torque measured with strain gauges that were applied on the axis of rotation. The result shows dissimilarity of the pressure field between Re = 1580 and Re = 3160. Torque estimated from the pressure field shows similarity with the torque measured with strain gauges. Although the method shows promising result, it requires further rigorous testing.