AIAA Science and Technology Forum and Exposition (AIAA SciTech Forum), ELECTR NETWORK, 3 - 07 Ocak 2022, (Tam Metin Bildiri)
This paper investigates the effect of the gap on the aerodynamics of biplane Micro Air Vehicle (MAV) designs. The wind tunnel testing includes recording lift, drag, and pitching moment for four different wing planform shapes; rectangular, Zimmerman, inverse Zimmerman, and elliptical. Five aspect ratios with five different gap positions are tested for each planform shape from 0 degrees to 30 degrees. Subsequently, the leading-edge suction method is used for empirical estimation of vortex and potential induced aerodynamic contributions. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling is done to visualize flow-field and associated leading and side-edge vortices. The results indicate that as the gap is reduced between two wings for any aspect ratio and planform shape, the lower wing's leading and side edge vortex is suppressed, thereby jeopardizing vortex-induced contributions.