J4 ›› 2012, Vol. 9 ›› Issue (2): 166-176.doi: 10.1016/S1672-6529(11)60112-1

• 论文 • 上一篇    

Parametric Study of an Underwater Finned Propulsor Inspired by Bluespotted Ray

Yonghua Zhang1, Jianhui He1, K. H. Low2   

  1. 1. Department of Mechatronics Engineering, Taizhou Vocational &|Technical College, Taizhou 318000, P. R. China
    2. School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639798
  • 出版日期:2012-06-30
  • 通讯作者: Yonghua Zhang E-mail:yhzhang@tzvtc.com

Parametric Study of an Underwater Finned Propulsor Inspired by Bluespotted Ray

Yonghua Zhang1, Jianhui He1, K. H. Low2   

  1. 1. Department of Mechatronics Engineering, Taizhou Vocational &|Technical College, Taizhou 318000, P. R. China
    2. School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639798
  • Online:2012-06-30
  • Contact: Yonghua Zhang E-mail:yhzhang@tzvtc.com

摘要:

The performance of bluespotted rays was emulated in the design of a bioinspired underwater propulsor in the present work. First, the movement of a live bluespotted ray was captured for the swimming mode and useful information to the biomimetic mechanism design. By virtue of the modular and reconfigurable design concept, an undulatory fin propulsion prototype was developed. With a proper experimental set-up, orthogonal experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of various fin design parameters on the propulsion speed, thrust, and power of the fish robot. The controllable fin parameters include frequency, amplitude, wavelength, fin shape, and undulatory mode. The significance of these parameters was also determined by using the variance analysis. The results demonstrate that the designed propulsor, imitating bluespotted rays with large expanded undulatory fins, is able to propel itself by changing various kinematic parameters.

关键词: biomimetic underwater propulsor, bluespotted ray, undulatory fin, fish robot, parametric study

Abstract:

The performance of bluespotted rays was emulated in the design of a bioinspired underwater propulsor in the present work. First, the movement of a live bluespotted ray was captured for the swimming mode and useful information to the biomimetic mechanism design. By virtue of the modular and reconfigurable design concept, an undulatory fin propulsion prototype was developed. With a proper experimental set-up, orthogonal experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of various fin design parameters on the propulsion speed, thrust, and power of the fish robot. The controllable fin parameters include frequency, amplitude, wavelength, fin shape, and undulatory mode. The significance of these parameters was also determined by using the variance analysis. The results demonstrate that the designed propulsor, imitating bluespotted rays with large expanded undulatory fins, is able to propel itself by changing various kinematic parameters.

Key words: biomimetic underwater propulsor, bluespotted ray, undulatory fin, fish robot, parametric study