The morphing of wings from three different bat species is studied using an extension of the Weissinger method.
To understand how camber affects performance factors such as lift and lift to drag ratio, XFOIL is used to study thin
(3% thickness to chord ratio) airfoils at a low Reynolds number of 100,000. The maximum camber of 9% yielded the
largest lift coefficient, and a mid-range camber of 7% yielded the largest lift to drag ratio. Correlations between bat
wing morphology and flight characteristics are covered, and the three bat wing planforms chosen represent various
combinations of morphological components and different flight modes. The wings are studied using the extended
Weissinger method in an "unmorphed" configuration using a thin, symmetric airfoil across the span of the wing through
angles of attack of 0°-15°. The wings are then run in the Weissinger method at angles of attack of -2° to 12° in a
"morphed" configuration modeled after bat wings seen in flight, where the camber of the airfoils comprising the wings is
varied along the span and a twist distribution along the span is introduced. The morphed wing configurations increase
the lift coefficient over 1000% from the unmorphed configuration and increase the lift to drag ratio over 175%. The
results of the three different species correlate well with their flight in nature.
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