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Distributed flexibility in inertial swimmers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 February 2020

Daniel Floryan Open the ORCID record for Daniel Floryan [Opens in a new window]  and
Clarence W. Rowley
Daniel Floryan*
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
Clarence W. Rowley
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
*
†Email address for correspondence: dfloryan@alumni.princeton.edu
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Abstract

We study a linear inviscid model of a passively flexible swimmer with distributed flexibility, calculating its propulsive performance and optimal distributions of flexibility. The frequencies of actuation and mean stiffness ratios we consider span a large range, while the mass ratio is fixed to a low value representative of swimmers. We present results showing how the trailing edge deflection, thrust coefficient, power coefficient and efficiency vary with frequency, mean stiffness and stiffness distribution. Swimmers with distributed flexibility have the same qualitative features as those with uniform flexibility. Significant gains in thrust can be made, however, by tuning the stiffness such that a resonant response is triggered, or by concentrating stiffness towards the leading edge if resonance cannot be triggered. To minimize power, the opposite is true. Meaningful gains in efficiency can be made at low frequencies by concentrating stiffness away from the leading edge, since doing so induces efficient travelling wave kinematics. We also speculate on the effects of a finite Reynolds number in the form of streamwise drag. The drag adds an offset to the net thrust produced by the swimmer, causing efficiency-maximizing distributions of flexibility to tend towards thrust-maximizing ones, representative of what is found in nature.

JFM classification

Biological Fluid Dynamics: Swimming/flying Biological Fluid Dynamics: Propulsion
Type
JFM Papers
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 888 , 10 April 2020 , A24
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

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