Lehmann Fritz-Olaf
Department of Neurobiology, University of Ulm, Germany.
Naturwissenschaften. 2004 Mar;91(3):101-22. doi: 10.1007/s00114-004-0502-3. Epub 2004 Mar 4.
Recent studies have revealed a diverse array of fluid dynamic phenomena that enhance lift production during flapping insect flight. Physical and analytical models of oscillating wings have demonstrated that a prominent vortex attached to the wing's leading edge augments lift production throughout the translational parts of the stroke cycle, whereas aerodynamic circulation due to wing rotation, and possibly momentum transfer due to a recovery of wake energy, may increase lift at the end of each half stroke. Compared to the predictions derived from conventional steady-state aerodynamic theory, these unsteady aerodynamic mechanisms may account for the majority of total lift produced by a flying insect. In addition to contributing to the lift required to keep the insect aloft, manipulation of the translational and rotational aerodynamic mechanisms may provide a potent means by which a flying animal can modulate direction and magnitude of flight forces for manoeuvring flight control and steering behaviour. The attainment of flight, including the ability to control aerodynamic forces by the neuromuscular system, is a classic paradigm of the remarkable adaptability that flying insects have for utilising the principles of unsteady fluid dynamics. Applying these principles to biology broadens our understanding of how the diverse patterns of wing motion displayed by the different insect species have been developed throughout their long evolutionary history.
最近的研究揭示了一系列多样的流体动力学现象，这些现象在昆虫拍动飞行过程中增强了升力的产生。振荡翅膀的物理和分析模型表明，附着在翅膀前缘的一个显著涡旋在整个冲程周期的平移部分增强了升力的产生，而由于翅膀旋转产生的气动环流，以及可能由于尾流能量恢复导致的动量传递，可能在每个半冲程结束时增加升力。与传统稳态空气动力学理论得出的预测相比，这些非定常空气动力学机制可能占飞行昆虫产生的总升力的大部分。除了有助于产生使昆虫保持在空中所需的升力外，对平移和旋转空气动力学机制的操控可能为飞行中的动物提供一种强大的手段，使其能够调节飞行力的方向和大小，以进行机动飞行控制和转向行为。实现飞行，包括通过神经肌肉系统控制气动力的能力，是飞行昆虫利用非定常流体动力学原理所具有的显著适应性的经典范例。将这些原理应用于生物学，拓宽了我们对不同昆虫物种所展示的多样翅膀运动模式在其漫长进化历史中是如何发展的理解。
