Abstract

The aim of my research is to investigate the material properties of Hawkmoth wings, specifically the measurement of Young’s Modulus and the Poisson’s ratio for bulk pieces of the wing. This was achieved by raising moths, slicing their wings into strips, and measuring the stress and strains during uniaxial tensile testing. Digital image correlation was used to compute the deformation of the wing under constant strain with greater accuracy. While others have investigated small portions of insect wings, a bulk method is novel. Preliminary results possess attributes similar to the outcomes of previous studies, along with the presence of relaxation. This presentation will discuss my findings about Poisson’s ratio of Hummingbird Hawkmoth wings.