Gait parameters influence on flapping flight power curves

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the possible correlations between the aerodynamic power and the flight kinematic of birds using their power curves. This study is conducted in conjunction with the UCLouvain RevealFlight project and adopts the White Ibis articulated lifting line developed within this research network. By coupling the articulated lifting line with a particle swarm optimizer and using a specific cost function, the thesis trims the kinematic of the bird and retrieves its power curve. The resulting optimized kinematic and the aerodynamic power are comparable with literature findings and suggest a predominance, during flight, of two distinct flight kinematic parameters (i.e. flapping amplitude and stroke-plane angle). Additional outcomes of this work strongly indicate a negligible dependency of the aerodynamic power from the flight kinematic of the bird. The limitations of the proposed coupled model are addressed and a potential extension of the articulated lifting line is suggested. Further studies are needed to establish the role of each of the flight kinematic parameters and to better understand their correlations with the total power consumption of birds.