Investigating the Effects of Leading- and Trailing-Edge Shapes of a Flapping Wing on Power Extraction Performance

Suleiman Saleh and Chang-Hyun Sohn ()
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Suleiman Saleh: School of Mechanical Engineering, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41566, Republic of Korea
Chang-Hyun Sohn: School of Mechanical Engineering, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41566, Republic of Korea

Energies, 2025, vol. 18, issue 11, 1-18

Abstract: Flapping wings present a promising approach to harnessing energy from fluid flow by leveraging a synchronized pitching and heaving motion of the airfoil. The impact of modifying the leading and trailing edge shapes of a flapping wing on energy harvesting performance is investigated using sinusoidal pitching motion. The pitch angle varies between 80° and 90°. The wing thickness (T1) varies from 8% to 48% of the chord length, with a flat plate chord length of c = 1.0. A promising airfoil profile is achieved by increasing only the leading-edge thickness to 32% of the chord, significantly enhancing energy capture by improving the generation of pushing forces and power. The results show that a wing configuration with a semicircular leading edge and a rectangular trailing edge outperforms the baseline case (a rectangular flat plate) and all other configurations under the same conditions. This configuration shows a notable improvement in power output and efficiency at a pitch angle of 85° and a leading-edge thickness of 32% of the chord. The maximum power output ( C p t ) represents a 16.73% increase over the baseline, while the maximum efficiency (η) reflects a 12.77% improvement. These findings highlight the superior energy extraction performance of the new configuration, emphasizing the dominant role of the leading edge in enhancing energy harvesters compared to the trailing edge.

Keywords: energy harvester; sinusoidal motion; flapping wing; leading and trailing edges; power extraction and performance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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