Aerodynamic Performance Analysis for Bio Inspired Airfoil Profiles for Vertical Axis Wind Turbine
Abstract
In this study, dorsal views of different insect wings are inspired as a airfoil profile. After evaluating their aerodynamic performances with Xfoil panel solver for different Reynolds numbers, the best one’s lift and drag coefficients are also compared with symmetric and cambered NACA four-digit airfoils. After analyzed the aerodynamic design parameters, it is seen that generated W-drainfly airfoil profile gives positive lift coefficients at zero angle of attack and its drag coefficients are rather big. Therefore, this airfoil section can be used in self-starting drag type vertical axis wind turbines at low wind speeds.
Keywords
References
- [1] T. A. Planet and E. Peralta, “Innovation inspired by nature: Applications of biomimicry in engineering design,” Biomimetics, vol. 9, no. 9, p. 523, 2024. doi: 10.3390/biomimetics9090523
- [2] “50 of the world’s best biomimicry examples (so far),” Learn Biomimicry. [Online]. Available: https://www.learnbiomimicry.com/blog/best-biomimicry-examples. [Accessed: Jan. 24, 2026].
- [3] L. Schenato, X. Deng, and S. Sastry, “Hovering flight for a micromechanical flying insect: Modeling and robust control synthesis,” in IFAC Proceedings Volumes, vol. 35, no. 1, Barcelona, Spain, July 2002, pp. 235–240. doi: 10.3182/20020721-6-ES-1901.01264
- [4] S. Avadhanula, R. J. Wood, E. Steltz, J. Yan, and R. S. Fearing, “Lift force improvements for the micromechanical flying insect,” in Proc. IEEE/RSJ Int. Conf. on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2003), Las Vegas, NV, USA, Oct. 2003, pp. 1350–1356.
- [5] “Micromechanical flying insect (MFI) project,” Univ. of California, Berkeley. [Online]. Available: https://people.eecs.berkeley.edu/~ronf/MFI/index.html. [Accessed: Jan. 24, 2026].
- [6] H. V. Phan and H. C. Park, “Mimicking nature’s flyers: A review of insect-inspired flying robots,” Current Opinion in Insect Science, vol. 42, pp. 70–75, 2020. doi: 10.1016/j.cois.2020.09.008
- [7] R. Deepak, R. Aishwarya, S. Shruti, and D. Jaynesh, “Evolution of flight in insects,” Int. J. Entomology Research, vol. 9, no. 7, pp. 172–175, 2024.
- [8] M. Dickinson, “Insect flight,” Current Biology, vol. 16, no. 9, pp. R309–R314, 2006. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2006.03.087
Details
Primary Language
English
Subjects
Computing Applications in Life Sciences
Journal Section
Research Article
Publication Date
August 31, 2026
Submission Date
January 26, 2026
Acceptance Date
June 18, 2026
Published in Issue
Year 2026 Volume: 12 Number: 2