Bat wing membranes inspire development of micro air vehicles

The membranes have no mechanical parts, and alter their shape in response to the forces acting upon them, making them more efficient and easier to maintain than traditional rigid wings.

The membrane wings are being developed in a combination of experimental research at Southampton University and computational modelling at Imperial College, with funding from EPSRC, and the United States Air Force European Office of Aerospace Research and Development.

The team have used the findings from the computer models to build a 0.5m-wide test vehicle, according to Prof Bharath Ganapathisubramani of Southampton University’s Aerodynamics and Flight Mechanics Group, who led the overall project.

“Since the wing is a flexible, thin rubber membrane, it can change shape depending upon what the wind hitting it comprises of,” said Ganapathisubramani. “So if it is in a gusty environment then it would continuously change shape, but if it was in a steady wind it would form a single shape and then maintain it.”