Flapping Wing Simulations using Generalized Overset Meshes

A large number of research activities have been conducted within the biological, engineering, and computational science communities to understand the complex flow fields around flapping insects and their capability for rapid maneuvers.  However, the understanding of these natural phenomena is in its infancy. A few of the technical barriers that need to be addressed for the numerical modeling of flapping wing insect flight include: 1) the need for the discretization of the complex domain of interest around flapping insects with proper resolution, 2) the capability to handle large relative movement of wings relative to the body, 3) the requirement of higher order numerical schemes to accurately resolve vortex shedding and complex vortex interactions, and 4) the capability to model complex non-linear interactions between the aerodynamics forces and structural deformation.  This paper presents the first step towards the numerical modeling of flapping wing insect flights. The discretization of the domain is carried out using a generalized mesh approach and the flapping motion is modeled using an overset mesh approach.  The results from a mesh dependency study and the analysis of the effect turbulence models on the predicted wake profiles will be presented for the validation of the numerical approach.