Kinematics of a Low Aspect Ratio Pitching Flexible Panel—A New Insight

Experimental work was carried out to understand the kinematics of a low aspect ratio pitching flexible panel. Force measurements and high-speed imaging technique was used in the present study. We observed that due to elastic deformation, the trailing edge of the flexible panel was found to trace a figure-of-eight trajectory during the pitching cycle. The extent of the figure-of-eight loop indicates the phase lag between the leading and trailing edge of the flexible panel, which was also found to increase and reduce with an increase in the pitching frequency and incoming flow, respectively. There is a distinct difference between the time and phase evolution of the instantaneous thrust production for the rigid and flexible panel is observed.