Events Calendar

AME Seminar

Speaker: Chris Roh, Caltech

Talk Title: Hydrofoiling Honeybee

Abstract: Honeybees display a unique bio-locomotion strategy at the air-water interface. When waters adhesive force traps them on the surface, their wetted wings lose ability to generate aerodynamic thrust. However, they adequately locomote, reaching a speed up to three body lengths-1. Honeybees use their wetted wings as hydrofoils for their water surface propulsion. Their locomotion imparts hydrodynamic momentum to the surrounding water in the form of asymmetric waves and a deeper water jet stream, generating approximately 20 μN average thrust. The wing kinematics show that the wings stroke plane is skewed, and the wing supinates and pronates during its power and recovery strokes, respectively. The flow under a mechanical model wing mimicking the motion of a bees wing further shows that non-zero net horizontal momentum is imparted to the water, demonstrating net thrust. Moreover, a periodic acceleration and deceleration of water is observed, which provides additional forward movement by recoil locomotion. Scaling analysis of the hydrodynamic forces associated with the wing motion indicates that the wings utilize added mass force (unsteady inertial force associated with the pulling of the water attached to the wing). Hydrofoiling highlights the versatility of their flapping-wing systems that are capable of generating propulsion with fluids whose densities span three orders of magnitude. This discovery inspires a novel aerial-aquatic hybrid vehicle.

Host: AME Department

More Info: https://ame.usc.edu/seminars/

Location: James H. Zumberge Hall Of Science (ZHS) - 159

Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Tessa Yao

Event Link: https://ame.usc.edu/seminars/