Abstract: Flexible insect wings deform passively under the periodic loading during flapping flight. The wing flexibility is considered as one of the specific mechanisms on improving insect flight performance. The constitutive relation of the insect wing material plays a key role on the wing deformation,
but has not been clearly understood yet. A viscoelastic constitutive relation model was established based on the stress relaxation experiment of a dragonfly wing (in vitro). This model was examined by the finite element analysis of the dynamic deformation response for a model insect wing under the action of the periodical inertial force in flapping. It is revealed that the viscoelastic constitutive relation is rational to characterize the biomaterial property of insect wings in contrast to the elastic one. The amplitude and form of the passive viscoelastic deformation of the wing is evidently dependent on the viscous parameters in the constitutive relation.

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