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Effects of the CG Positions on the Autorotative Flight of Maple Seeds

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Abstract

The present study performed 6-degree-of-freedom (6DOF) simulations of the autorotative flight of maple seeds to investigate the interrelation between the motion parameters and the configuration elements, especially the center of gravity (CG). An artificial maple seed of CG point adjustable was designed, and its autorotative flight was simulated by simultaneously solving the flow field around the seed and its 6DOF motion. The spinning rate and the magnitude of the pitch angle (which is always negative) increased as the CG point moves forward toward the leading edge of the seed. It was found that the chordwise position of CG, which determined the value of the moment about the span axis and consequently governed the pitch angle, was very influential to the transient behavior and the converged values of the motion parameter of the autorotative flight of maple seeds. However, the effects of the CG point movement in the spanwise direction were relatively small compared to the CG point movement in the chordwise direction.

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Abbreviations

CG:

Center of gravity

6DOF:

6 Degrees of freedom

XYZ coordinate:

Inertial coordinate system

xyz coordinate:

Body-fixed coordinate system with the origin at the CG of the seed

x-axis:

Chordwise coordinate in the xyz coordinate system

y-axis:

Spanwise coordinate tangent to the wing plane in the xyz coordinate system

z-axis:

Vertical coordinate normal to the wing plane in the xyz coordinate system

Flight path plane:

Plane swept by the wing plane of the spinning seed

V D :

Descent velocity measured in the inertial reference frame

Ω :

Spinning rate about the vertical axis of the inertial reference frame

θ :

Pitch angle (angle between the chord line of the seed wing and the flight path plane)

β :

Coning angle (angle between the flight path plane and the horizontal plane)

α :

Local angle of attack of the seed wing, α = tan−1(VDcosβ/Ωy) + θ

A :

Aerodynamic force component parallel to the chord line of the seed wing

N :

Aerodynamic force component normal to the wing plane of the seed

dL :

Sectional lift acting on a span segment of the seed

dD :

Sectional drag acting on a span segment of the seed

M x, M y, M z :

Moment about the x-, y- and z-axes, respectively

CP:

Center of pressure

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Acknowledgements

This paper was supported by Sehan University Research Fund in 2021.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Aircraft Maintenance Engineering, Sehan University, Dangjin, Chungcheongnam, 31746, Republic of Korea

    Byeong-Gook Kwon & Myong-Hwan Sohn

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  1. Byeong-Gook Kwon
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  2. Myong-Hwan Sohn
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Correspondence to Byeong-Gook Kwon.

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Kwon, BG., Sohn, MH. Effects of the CG Positions on the Autorotative Flight of Maple Seeds. Int. J. Aeronaut. Space Sci. 23, 241–254 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42405-021-00436-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42405-021-00436-1

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