Numerical Study of Propulsion Mechanism for Oscillating Rigid and Flexible Tuna-Tails

doi:10.1016/S1672-6529(11)60046-2

J4 ›› 2011, Vol. 8 ›› Issue (4): 406-417.doi: 10.1016/S1672-6529(11)60046-2

• article • Previous Articles Next Articles

Numerical Study of Propulsion Mechanism for Oscillating Rigid and Flexible Tuna-Tails

Liang Yang¹, Yumin Su¹, Qing Xiao²

1. State Key Laboratory of Autonomous Underwater Vehicle, Harbin Engineering University,
Harbin 150001, P. R. China
2. Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, University of Strathclyde,
Glasgow G4 0LZ, United Kingdom

Online:2011-12-30
Contact: Liang Yang E-mail:yangliang@hrbeu.edu.cn

Abstract

Abstract:

Numerical study on the unsteady hydrodynamic characteristics of oscillating rigid and flexible tuna-tails in viscous flow-field is performed. Investigations are conducted using Reynolds-Averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) equations with a moving adaptive mesh. The effect of swimming speed, flapping amplitude, frequency and flexure amplitude on the propulsion performance of the rigid and flexible tuna-tails are investigated. Computational results reveal that a pair of leading edge vortices develop along the tail surface as it undergoes an oscillating motion. The propulsive efficiency has a strong correlation with various locomotive parameters. Peak propulsive efficiency can be obtained by adjusting these parameters. Particularly, when input power coefficient is less than 2.8, the rigid tail generates larger thrust force and higher propulsive efficiency than flexible tail. However, when input power coefficient is larger than 2.8, flexible tail is superior to rigid tail.

Key words: tuna-tail, RANS, propulsion mechanism, hydrodynamic characteristics, viscous flow-fields

Liang Yang, Yumin Su, Qing Xiao. Numerical Study of Propulsion Mechanism for Oscillating Rigid and Flexible Tuna-Tails[J].J4, 2011, 8(4): 406-417.

References

[1] Lighthill M J. Aquatic animal propulsion of high hydro mechanical efficiency. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 1970, 44, 265–301.

[2] Chopra M G, Kambe T. Hydromechanics of lunate-tail swimming propulsion Part II. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 1977, 79, 49–69.

[3] Wu T Y. Hydrodynamics of swimming propulsion, Part I. Swimming of a two-dimensional flexible plate at variable forward speeds in an inviscid fluid. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 1971, 46, 337–355.

[4] Karpouzian G, Spedding G R, Cheng H K. Lunate-tail swimming propulsion Part II. Performance analysis. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 1990, 210, 329–351.

[5] Liu P, Bose N. Propulsive performance of three naturally occurring oscillating propeller platforms. Ocean Engineering, 1993, 20, 57–75.

[6] Liu P, Bose N. Hydrodynamic characteristics of a lunate shape oscillating propulsor. Ocean Engineering, 1999, 26, 519–530.

[7] Miao J M, Ho M H. Effect of flexure on aerodynamic propulsive efficiency of flapping flexible airfoil. Journal of Fluids and Structures, 2005, 11, 1–19.

[8] Qi D W, Liu Y M, Wei S, Hikaru A. Simulation of dynamics of plunge and pitch of a three-dimensional flexible wing in a low Reynolds number flow. Physics of Fluids, 2010, 22, 091901-091901–20.

[9] Wang Z D, Chen P, Zhang X Q. Wake vortex structure characteristics of a flexible oscillating fin. Journal of Bionic Engineering, 2008, 5, 49–54.

[10] Tay W B, Lim K B. Numerical analysis of active chord-wise flexibility on the performance of non-symmetrical flapping airfoils. Journal of Fluids and Structures, 2010, 26, 74–91.

[11] Riggs P, Bower A, Vincent J. Advantages of a biomimetic stiffness profile in pitching flexible fin propulsion. Journal of Bionic Engineering, 2010, 7, 113–119.

[12] Tuncer I H, Kaya M. Thrust generation caused by flapping airfoils in a biplane configuration. Journal of Aircraft, 2003, 40, 509–515.

[13] Guo Z, Liu J, Qu Z. Realization of dynamic mesh in 2D unstructured mesh. The 10th National Conference of Computational Fluid Dynamic, Mianyang, China, 2000, 360–364. (in Chinese)

[14] Fluent Inc. FLUENT User Defined Function Manual, 2008.

[15] Tang Z M, Zhao X D. Collection of Illustrative Plates of Hydrodynamic Performance of Stabilizing Fin, Harbin Engineering University Press, Harbin, China, 2004. (in Chinese)

Quick Search Adv. Search

Numerical Study of Propulsion Mechanism for Oscillating Rigid and Flexible Tuna-Tails

PDF (PC)

Like

Knowledge

Abstract

Cite this article

share this article

References

Related Articles 0

Metrics

Comments

Recommended 0