Logo Landing Page Logo HAW Hamburg

Aerodynamics of the Falling Maple Seed

Philip Desenfans

Abstract
Purpose - The paper presents a theoretical framework that describes the aerodynamics of a falling maple (Acer pseudoplatanus) seed. --- Methodology - A semi-empirical method is developed that provides a ratio stating how much longer a seed falls in air compared to freefall. The generated lift is calculated by evaluating the integral of two-dimensional airfoil elements using a preliminary falling speed. This allows for the calculation of the definitive falling speed using Blade Element Momentum Theory (BEMT); hereafter, the fall duration in air and in freefall are obtained. Furthermore, the input-variables of the calculation of lift are transformed to require only the length and width of the maple seed. Lastly, the method is applied to two calculation examples as a means of validation. --- Findings - The two example calculations gave percentual errors of 5.5% and 3.7% for the falling speed when compared to measured values. The averaged result is that a maple seed falls 9.9 times longer in air when released from 20 m; however, this result is highly dependent on geometrical parameters which can be accounted for using the constructed method. --- Research limitations - Firstly, the coefficient of lift is unknown for the shape of a maple seed. Secondly, the approximated transient state is yet to be verified by measurement. --- Originality / Value - The added value of this report lies in the reduction of simplifications compared to BEMT approaches. In this way a large amount of accuracy is achieved due to the inclusion of many geometrical parameters, even though simplicity is maintained. This has been accomplished through constructing a simple three-step method that is fundamental and essentially non-iterative.

Download full text: PDF/A TextDesenfans.pdf    Size:  1.3M
Date:2019-06-01
Type of work: Project
Advisor / Examiner:Dieter Scholz
Published by:Aircraft Design and Systems Group (AERO), Department of Automotive and Aeronautical Engineering, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences
This work is part of:transparent pin for text alignment Digital Library - Projects & Theses - Prof. Dr. Scholz --- http://library.ProfScholz.de pin
 
PERSISTENT IDENTIFIER:
URN: https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:gbv:18302-aero2019-06-01.016 (to reach this page)
DOI:https://doi.org/10.15488/9373
ARK:https://n2t.net/ark:/13960/t4fn9pt5b
No associated research data 
URLs registered with URN: Show all links associated with this text!
 
CATALOG ENTRY:
DNB: Check inclusion of this title in German National Library!
WorldCat: Check inclusion of this title in WorldCat!
DataCite: Check inclusion of this title in DataCite!
Google Scholar: Check inclusion of this title in Google Scholar!
Semantic Scholar: Check inclusion of this title in Semantic Scholar!
OpenAIRE: Check inclusion of this title in OpenAIRE!
BASE: Check inclusion of this title in BASE!
CORE: Check inclusion of this title in CORE!
Google: Check inclusion of this title in Google!
 
Keywords, German (GND): Aerodynamik,   Ahorn,   Auftrieb,   Strömungsabriss
Keywords, English (LCSH): Aerodynamics,   Maple,   Lift (Aerodynamics),   Stalling (Aerodynamics)
Keywords, free: Aerodynamisches Profil, Anstellwinkel, Freier Fall, Bergahorn, Samen, Evolutionsbiologie, Aerofoils, Angle of attack (Aerodynamics), Acer pseudoplatanus, Seeds, Evolution (Biology), Blade Element Momentum Theory, BEMT, free fall, post-stall, autorotation
DDC: 629.13,    629.1323,    576.8,    581.467
RVK: ZO 7230

© This work is protected by copyright

The work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
CC BY-NC-SA
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0

CC-BY-NC-SA

Any further request may be directed to:
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dieter Scholz, MSME
E-Mail see: http://www.ProfScholz.de

VISIBILITY:  (more)

Share this text:
Twitter LinkedIn Facebook XING Mendeley InternetArchive E-Mail

Print Friendly and PDF

Quote this text:
ISO 690:
DESENFANS, Philip, 2019. Aerodynamics of the Falling Maple Seed. Project. Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Aircraft Design and Systems Group (AERO). Available from: https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:gbv:18302-aero2019-06-01.016 [viewed YYYY-MM-DD].

Major results / graphical abstract:
Major results / graphical abstract

Front page:
Cover Page

LAST UPDATE:  09 June 2025
AUTHOR:  Prof. Dr. Scholz
IMPRESSUM (PDF)

E-Mail-Address
home  Prof. Dr. Scholz
home  Aircraft Design and Systems Group (AERO)
home  Aeronautical Engineering
home  Department of Automotive and Aeronautical Engineering
home  Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science
home  Hamburg University of Applied Sciences