Aerodynamics of Hummingbird Flight
The Aerodynamics of Hummingbird Flight
Douglas R. Warrick* and Bret W. Tobalske.† Oregon State University, Corvallis Oregon 97331 and University of Portland, Portland OR 97203 Donald R. Powers‡ George Fox University, Newburg, OR 97132 and Michael H. Dickinson§ California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125
[Abstract] Hummingbirds fly with their wings almost fully extended during their entire wingbeat. This pattern, associated with having proportionally short humeral bones, long distal wing elements, and assumed to be an adaptation for extended hovering flight, has lead to predictions that the aerodynamic mechanisms exploited by hummingbirds during hovering should be similar to those observed in insects. To test these predictions, we flew rufous hummingbirds (Selasphorus rufus, 3.3 g, n = 6) in a variable–speed wind tunnel (0-12 ms-1) and measured wake structure and dynamics using digital particle image velocimetry (DPIV). Unlike hovering insects, hummingbirds produced 75% of their weight support during downstroke and only 25% during upstroke, an asymmetry due to the inversion of their cambered wings during upstroke. Further, we have found no evidence of sustained, attached leading edge vorticity (LEV) during up or downstroke, as has been seen in similarly-sized insects - although a transient LEV is produced during the rapid change in angle of attack at the end of the downstroke. Finally, although an extended-wing upstroke during forward flight has long been thought to produce lift and negative thrust, we found circulation during downstroke alone to be sufficient to support body weight, and that some positive thrust was produced during upstroke, as evidenced by a vortex pair shed into the wake of all upstrokes at speeds of 4 – 12 m s-1.
I. Introduction
ITH a few exceptional intersections, the evolution of human-engineered flight and the study of the evolution of animal flight have been essentially parallel. Given the results of the earliest such
Douglas R. Warrick* and Bret W. Tobalske.† Oregon State University, Corvallis Oregon 97331 and University of Portland, Portland OR 97203 Donald R. Powers‡ George Fox University, Newburg, OR 97132 and Michael H. Dickinson§ California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125
[Abstract] Hummingbirds fly with their wings almost fully extended during their entire wingbeat. This pattern, associated with having proportionally short humeral bones, long distal wing elements, and assumed to be an adaptation for extended hovering flight, has lead to predictions that the aerodynamic mechanisms exploited by hummingbirds during hovering should be similar to those observed in insects. To test these predictions, we flew rufous hummingbirds (Selasphorus rufus, 3.3 g, n = 6) in a variable–speed wind tunnel (0-12 ms-1) and measured wake structure and dynamics using digital particle image velocimetry (DPIV). Unlike hovering insects, hummingbirds produced 75% of their weight support during downstroke and only 25% during upstroke, an asymmetry due to the inversion of their cambered wings during upstroke. Further, we have found no evidence of sustained, attached leading edge vorticity (LEV) during up or downstroke, as has been seen in similarly-sized insects - although a transient LEV is produced during the rapid change in angle of attack at the end of the downstroke. Finally, although an extended-wing upstroke during forward flight has long been thought to produce lift and negative thrust, we found circulation during downstroke alone to be sufficient to support body weight, and that some positive thrust was produced during upstroke, as evidenced by a vortex pair shed into the wake of all upstrokes at speeds of 4 – 12 m s-1.
I. Introduction
ITH a few exceptional intersections, the evolution of human-engineered flight and the study of the evolution of animal flight have been essentially parallel. Given the results of the earliest such
References: Greenwalt, C. H. “The wings of insects and birds as mechanical oscillators,” Proc. Amer. Phil. Soc. Vol. 104, 1960, pp. 605-611 Norberg, U. M. Vertebrate Flight: Mechanics, Physiology, Morphology, Ecology, And Evolution. Springer-Verlag, Berlin 1990 5 4 Wilmott, A. P. & Ellington, C. P. “The mechanics of flight in the hawkmoth Manduca sexta II. Aerodynamic consequences of kinematic and morphological variation,” J. Exp. Biol. Vol. 200, 1997, pp. 2723-2745 6 Warrick, D. R., , Tobalske, B. W., and Powers, D. R. “Aerodynamics of the hovering hummingbird,” Nature, Vol. 435, 2005, pp.1094-1097. Videler, J. J., Stamhuis, E. J., and Povel, G. D. E. “Leading-edge vortex lifts swifts,” Science, Vol. 306, 2004, pp. 1960-1962. Spedding, G. R., “The wake of a kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) in flapping flight,” J. Exp. Biol., Vol. 127, 1987, pp. 69-78.