Abstract
Biologists hypothesize that thousands of micro-scale hairs found on bat wings function as a network of air-flow sensors as part of a biological feedback flow control loop. In this work, we investigate hair-cell sensors as a means of detecting flow features in an unsteady separating flow over a cylinder. Individual hair-cell sensors were modeled using an Euler-Bernoulli beam equation forced by the fluid flow. When multiple sensor simulations are combined into an array of hair-cells, the response is shown to detect the onset and span of flow reversal, the upstream movement of the point of zero wall shear-stress, and the formation and growth of eddies near the wall of a cylinder. A linear algebraic hair-cell model, written as a function of the flow velocity, is also derived and shown to capture the same features as the hair-cell array simulation
Recommended Citation
B. T. Dickinson et al., "The Detection of Unsteady Flow Separation with Bioinspired Hair-Cell Sensors," Proceedings of the 26th AIAA Aerodynamic Measurement Technology and Ground Testing Conference, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), Jun 2008.
The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2008-3937
Meeting Name
26th AIAA Aerodynamic Measurement Technology and Ground Testing Conference
Department(s)
Mathematics and Statistics
Keywords and Phrases
Euler-Bernoulli Beam Equation; Hair Cells
Document Type
Article - Conference proceedings
Document Version
Final Version
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2008 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), All rights reserved.
Publication Date
01 Jun 2008
