Beneficial wake-capture effect for forward propulsion with a restrained wing-pitch motion of a butterfly

Unlike other insects, a butterfly uses a small amplitude of the wing-pitch motion for flight. From an analysis of the dynamics of real flying butterflies, we show that the restrained amplitude of the wing-pitch motion enhances the wake-capture effect so as to enhance forward propulsion. A numerical...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: You-Jun Lin, Sheng-Kai Chang, Yu-Hsiang Lai, Jing-Tang Yang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: The Royal Society 2021-08-01
Series:Royal Society Open Science
Subjects:
Online Access:https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.202172