Aerodynamic Analysis of Manta
Ray-Inspired Micro-air Vehicle Wing
Planforms
Deepak Subramanian, Jerome Alex Revanth, Gangadhar Arasu Vasagan,
Pankaj Soorya Ramnarendran, Rajesh Senthil Kumar Thangeswaran ,
and Balajee Ramakrishnananda
Abstract This study examines the performance of a bio-inspired micro-air vehicle’s
wing planforms at a low Reynolds number. The shape of the manta ray’s wing was
extracted from the real image of a manta ray and a B-spline curve was generated. The
Zimmerman planform was taken as the base for the model. Using Bezier curve, the
planform was extended on the sides to create two models with differing curvatures
which were named Manta A and Manta B. Numerical simulations were conducted
using ANSYS FLUENT 15.0 at a Reynolds number of 1×10
5 , and the aerodynamic
characteristics of the planforms were studied. It was clear from the results that the
manta ray-inspired planforms provided better lift characteristics at all angles of attack
between 0° and 20° when compared to the base Zimmerman planform. It can also
be observed that both the manta planforms provide better C L /C D ratios by around
11–23% between angles of attack 10° and 20°.
Keywords Manta ray · Micro-aerial vehicle · Bio-inspired wing planform ·
Aerodynamic efficiency
1 Introduction
A lot of interest has been shown in design and development of micro-air vehicles
lately. MAVs are the class of unmanned aerial vehicles which are miniature in size,
generally less than 500 mm [1], and are widely used for surveillance and reconnaissance purposes. MAVs may be autonomous or semi-autonomous in nature and need
to be extremely versatile in their performance. MAVs have been classified into fixed
wing, vertical take-off and landing (VTOL), flapping wing and rotary wing types
[2]. And of the four types, fixed wing has the longest endurance, range and highest
D. Subramanian · J. A. Revanth · G. A. Vasagan · P. S. Ramnarendran ·
R. S. K. Thangeswaran (B) · B. Ramakrishnananda
Department of Aerospace Engineering, Amrita School of Engineering, Amrita Vishwa
Vidyapeetham, Coimbatore, India
e-mail: t_rajesh@cb.amrita.edu
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license
to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
N. Gascoin and E. Balasubramanian (eds.), Innovative Design, Analysis
and Development Practices in Aerospace and Automotive Engineering, Lecture Notes
in Mechanical Engineering, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-6619-6_33
311
Ray-Inspired Micro-air Vehicle Wing
Planforms
Deepak Subramanian, Jerome Alex Revanth, Gangadhar Arasu Vasagan,
Pankaj Soorya Ramnarendran, Rajesh Senthil Kumar Thangeswaran ,
and Balajee Ramakrishnananda
Abstract This study examines the performance of a bio-inspired micro-air vehicle’s
wing planforms at a low Reynolds number. The shape of the manta ray’s wing was
extracted from the real image of a manta ray and a B-spline curve was generated. The
Zimmerman planform was taken as the base for the model. Using Bezier curve, the
planform was extended on the sides to create two models with differing curvatures
which were named Manta A and Manta B. Numerical simulations were conducted
using ANSYS FLUENT 15.0 at a Reynolds number of 1×10
5 , and the aerodynamic
characteristics of the planforms were studied. It was clear from the results that the
manta ray-inspired planforms provided better lift characteristics at all angles of attack
between 0° and 20° when compared to the base Zimmerman planform. It can also
be observed that both the manta planforms provide better C L /C D ratios by around
11–23% between angles of attack 10° and 20°.
Keywords Manta ray · Micro-aerial vehicle · Bio-inspired wing planform ·
Aerodynamic efficiency
1 Introduction
A lot of interest has been shown in design and development of micro-air vehicles
lately. MAVs are the class of unmanned aerial vehicles which are miniature in size,
generally less than 500 mm [1], and are widely used for surveillance and reconnaissance purposes. MAVs may be autonomous or semi-autonomous in nature and need
to be extremely versatile in their performance. MAVs have been classified into fixed
wing, vertical take-off and landing (VTOL), flapping wing and rotary wing types
[2]. And of the four types, fixed wing has the longest endurance, range and highest
D. Subramanian · J. A. Revanth · G. A. Vasagan · P. S. Ramnarendran ·
R. S. K. Thangeswaran (B) · B. Ramakrishnananda
Department of Aerospace Engineering, Amrita School of Engineering, Amrita Vishwa
Vidyapeetham, Coimbatore, India
e-mail: t_rajesh@cb.amrita.edu
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license
to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
N. Gascoin and E. Balasubramanian (eds.), Innovative Design, Analysis
and Development Practices in Aerospace and Automotive Engineering, Lecture Notes
in Mechanical Engineering, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-6619-6_33
311