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1. An Adaptable Flying Fish Robotic Model for Aero- and Hydrodynamic Experimentation

   https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icac101  

   Saro-Cortes, Valeria ; Cui, Yuhe ; Dufficy, Tierney ; Boctor, Arsanious ; Flammang, Brooke E ; Wissa, Aimy W ( June 2022 , Integrative and Comparative Biology)

   Abstract Flying fishes (family Exocoetidae) are known for achieving multi-modal locomotion through air and water. Previous work on understanding this animal’s aerodynamic and hydrodynamic nature has been based on observations, numerical simulations, or experiments on preserved dead fish, and has focused primarily on flying pectoral fins. The first half of this paper details the design and validation of a modular flying fish inspired robotic model organism (RMO). The second half delves into a parametric aerodynamic study of flying fish pelvic fins, which to date have not been studied in-depth. Using wind tunnel experiments at a Reynolds number of 30,000, we investigated the effect of the pelvic fin geometric parameters on aerodynamic efficiency and longitudinal stability. The pelvic fin parameters investigated in this study include the pelvic fin pitch angle and its location along the body. Results show that the aerodynamic efficiency is maximized for pelvic fins located directly behind the pectoral fins and is higher for more positive pitch angles. In contrast, pitching stability is neither achievable for positive pitching angles nor pelvic fins located directly below the pectoral fin. Thus, there is a clear a trade-off between stability and lift generation, and an optimal pelvic fin configuration depends onmore »the flying fish locomotion stage, be it gliding, taxiing, or taking off. The results garnered from the RMO experiments are insightful for understanding the physics principles governing flying fish locomotion and designing flying fish inspired aerial-aquatic vehicles.« less
2. Fine-tuning near-boundary swimming equilibria using asymmetric kinematics

   https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-3190/aca131  

   Liu, Leo ; Zhong, Qiang ; Han, Tianjun ; Moored, Keith W ; Quinn, Daniel B ( November 2022 , Bioinspiration & Biomimetics)

   Abstract When swimming near a solid planar boundary, bio-inspired propulsors can naturally equilibrate to certain distances from that boundary. How these equilibria are affected by asymmetric swimming kinematics is unknown. We present here a study of near-boundary pitching hydrofoils based on water channel experiments and potential flow simulations. We found that asymmetric pitch kinematics do affect near-boundary equilibria, resulting in the equilibria shifting either closer to or away from the planar boundary. The magnitude of the shift depends on whether the pitch kinematics have spatial asymmetry (e.g. a bias angle, θ 0 ) or temporal asymmetry (e.g. a stroke-speed ratio, τ ). Swimming at stable equilibrium requires less active control, while shifting the equilibrium closer to the boundary can result in higher thrust with no measurable change in propulsive efficiency. Our work reveals how asymmetric kinematics could be used to fine-tune a hydrofoil’s interaction with a nearby boundary, and it offers a starting point for understanding how fish and birds use asymmetries to swim near substrates, water surfaces, and sidewalls.
3. Experimental Investigation of the Unsteady Aerodynamics of Oscillating Airfoils in the Energy Harvesting Regime

   Siala, F.F ( July 2019 , Dissertation)

   The rising global trend to reduce dependence on fossil fuels has provided significant motivation toward the development of alternative energy conversion methods and new technologies to improve their efficiency. Recently, oscillating energy harvesters have shown promise as highly efficient and scalable turbines, which can be implemented in areas where traditional energy extraction and conversion are either unfeasible or cost prohibitive. Although such devices are quickly gaining popularity, there remain a number of hurdles in the understanding of their underlying fluid dynamics phenomena. The ability to achieve high efficiency power output from oscillating airfoil energy harvesters requires exploitation of the complexities of the event of dynamic stall. During dynamic stall, the oncoming flow separates at the leading edge of the airfoil to form leading ledge vortex (LEV) structures. While it is well known that LEVs play a significant role in aerodynamic force generation in unsteady animal flight (e.g. insects and birds), there is still a need to further understand their spatiotemporal evolution in order to design more effective energy harvesting enhancement mechanisms. In this work, we conduct extensive experimental investigations to shed-light on the flow physics of a heaving and pitching airfoil energy harvester operating at reduced frequencies of k =more »fc=U1 = 0.06-0.18, pitching amplitude of 0 = 75 and heaving amplitude of h0 = 0:6c. The experimental work involves the use of two-component particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements conducted in a wind tunnel facility at Oregon State University. Velocity fields obtained from the PIV measurements are analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively to provide a description of the dynamics of LEVs and other flow structures that may be present during dynamic stall. Due to the difficulties of accurately measuring aerodynamic forces in highly unsteady flows in wind tunnels, a reduced-order model based on the vortex-impulse theory is proposed for estimating the aerodynamic loadings and power output using flow field data. The reduced-order model is shown to be dominated by two terms that have a clear physical interpretation: (i) the time rate of change of the impulse of vortical structures and (ii) the Kutta-Joukowski force which indirectly represents the history effect of vortex shedding in the far wake. Furthermore, the effects of a bio-inspired flow control mechanism based on deforming airfoil surfaces on the flow dynamics and energy harvesting performance are investigated. The results show that the aerodynamic loadings, and hence power output, are highly dependent on the formation, growth rate, trajectory and detachment of the LEV. It is shown that the energy harvesting efficiency increases with increasing reduced frequency, peaking at 25% when k = 0.14, agreeing very well with published numerical results. At this optimal reduced frequency, the time scales of the LEV evolution and airfoil kinematics are matched, resulting in highly correlated aerodynamic load generation and airfoil motion. When operating at k > 0:14, it is shown that the aerodynamic moment and airfoil pitching motion become negatively correlated and as a result, the energy harvesting performance is deteriorated. Furthermore, by using a deforming airfoil surface at the leading and trailing edges, the peak energy harvesting efficiency is shown to increase by approximately 17% and 25% relative to the rigid airfoil, respectively. The performance enhancement is associated with enhanced aerodynamic forces for both the deforming leading and trailing edges. In addition, The deforming trailing edge airfoil is shown to enhance the correlation between the aerodynamic moment and pitching motion at higher reduced frequencies, resulting in a peak efficiency at k = 0:18 as opposed to k = 0:14 for the rigid airfoil.« less
4. Fish-inspired segment models for undulatory steady swimming

   https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-3190/ac6bd6  

   Akanyeti, Otar ; Di Santo, Valentina ; Goerig, Elsa ; Wainwright, Dylan K. ; Liao, James C. ; Castro-Santos, Theodore ; Lauder, George V. ( May 2022 , Bioinspiration & Biomimetics)

   Many aquatic animals swim by undulatory body movements and understanding the diversity of these movements could unlock the potential for designing better underwater robots. Here, we analyzed the steady swimming kinematics of a diverse group of fish species to investigate whether their undulatory movements can be represented using a series of interconnected multi-segment models, and if so, to identify the key factors driving the segment configuration of the models. Our results show that the steady swimming kinematics of fishes can be described successfully using parsimonious models, 83% of which had fewer than five segments. In these models, the anterior segments were significantly longer than the posterior segments, and there was a direct link between segment configuration and swimming kinematics, body shape, and Reynolds number. The models representing eel-like fishes with elongated bodies and fishes swimming at high Reynolds numbers had more segments and less segment length variability along the body than the models representing other fishes. These fishes recruited their anterior bodies to a greater extent, initiating the undulatory wave more anteriorly. Two shape parameters, related to axial and overall body thickness, predicted segment configuration with moderate to high success rate. We found that head morphology was a goodmore »predictor of its segment length. While there was a large variation in head segments, the length of tail segments was similar across all models. Given that fishes exhibited variable caudal fin shapes, the consistency of tail segments could be a result of an evolutionary constraint tuned for high propulsive efficiency. The bio-inspired multi-segment models presented in this study highlight the key bending points along the body and can be used to decide on the placement of actuators in fish-inspired robots, to model hydrodynamic forces in theoretical and computational studies, or for predicting muscle activation patterns during swimming.

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5. High-Efficiency Can Be Achieved for Non-Uniformly Flexible Pitching Hydrofoils via Tailored Collective Interactions

   https://doi.org/10.3390/fluids6070233  

   Kurt, Melike ; Mivehchi, Amin ; Moored, Keith ( July 2021 , Fluids)

   New experiments examine the interactions between a pair of three-dimensional (AR = 2) non-uniformly flexible pitching hydrofoils through force and efficiency measurements. It is discovered that the collective efficiency is improved when the follower foil has a nearly out-of-phase synchronization with the leader and is located directly downstream with an optimal streamwise spacing of X*=0.5. The collective efficiency is further improved when the follower operates with a nominal amplitude of motion that is 36% larger than the leader’s amplitude. A slight degradation in the collective efficiency was measured when the follower was slightly-staggered from the in-line arrangement where direct vortex impingement is expected. Operating at the optimal conditions, the measured collective efficiency and thrust are ηC=62% and CT,C=0.44, which are substantial improvements over the efficiency and thrust of ηC=29% and CT,C=0.16 of two fully-rigid foils in isolation. This demonstrates the promise of achieving high-efficiency with simple purely pitching mechanical systems and paves the way for the design of high-efficiency bio-inspired underwater vehicles.