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Aerodynamics and design for ultra-low Reynolds number flight

Growing interest in micro-air-vehicles has created the need for improved understanding of the relevant aerodynamics. A reasonable starting point is the study of airfoil aerodynamics at Reynolds numbers below 10,000, here termed ultra-low Reynolds numbers. The effects of airfoil geometry on performance are explored using an incompressible Navier-Stokes solver. Variations in thickness, camber, and the shape of leading and trailing edges are studied. Results indicate an increase in maximum lift coefficient with decreasing Reynolds number, but the lift to drag ratio continues to decrease, making the power required for flight a more restrictive consideration than lift. This performance penalty can be mitigated by careful airfoil design. Contrary to the notion that viscous fairing reduces airfoil geometry effectiveness, the computational results indicate that geometry still has a profound effect on performance at ultra-low Reynolds numbers. To further explore this design space, the flow solver has been coupled with an optimizer, resulting in the first airfoils quantitatively designed for this flow regime and demonstrating that unconventional camberlines can offer significant performance gains. Building on these results, tools are developed for ultra-low Reynolds number rotors, combining enhanced classical rotor theory with airfoil data from Navier-Stokes calculations. This performance prediction method is coupled with optimization for both design and analysis. Performance predictions from these tools are compared with threedimensional Navier-Stokes analyses and experimental data for several micro-rotor designs. Comparisons among the analyses and experimental data show reasonable agreement both in the global thrust and power, but the spanwise distributions of these quantities exhibit deviations, partially attributable to three-dimensional and rotational effects that effectively modify airfoil section performance. While these issues may limit the applicability of blade-element type methods for detailed rotor design at ultra-low Reynolds numbers, such methods are still useful for evaluating concept feasibility and rapidly generating initial designs for prototyping and for further analysis and optimization using more advanced tools. Moving toward controlled powered flight at centimeter scales, several prototype rotorcraft have been fabricated and tested, exploring both the aerodynamics and system integration issues.