Related papers: Propulsive performance of morphing and heaving foi…
This work assesses the hydrodynamic efficiency of Underwater Unmanned Vehicles (UUVs) equipped with soft morphing wings compared to conventional rigid wings. Unlike rigid wings, deformable counterparts can alter their aerodynamic properties…
Pump foiling enables a hydrofoil surfboard to sustain forward motion on flat water using only periodic leg pumping, converting vertical oscillations into hydrodynamic lift and thrust. We present a minimal mechanical model of pump foil…
The Scallop Theorem states that reciprocal methods of locomotion, such as jet propulsion or paddling, will not work in Stokes flow (Reynolds number = 0). In nature the effective limit of jet propulsion is still in the range where inertial…
Nature has always inspired scientists and engineers to understand the underlying mechanism leading to optimal design in bio-inspired dynamics. This study presents a computational framework for optimizing undulatory swimming profiles using a…
Effective methods of fluid transport vary across scale. A commonly used dimensionless number for quantifying the effective scale of fluid transport is the Reynolds number, Re, which gives the ratio of inertial to viscous forces. What may…
Bristled and membranous insect wings have co-evolved despite apparently serving the same functionality. We emulate flight physics using an automated free-fall experiment to better understand how and why several distinct wing forms may have…
We theoretically study the self-propulsion of a thin (slender) colloid driven by asymmetric chemical reactions on its surface at vanishing Reynolds number. Using the method of matched asymptotic expansions, we obtain the colloid…
The wake of a flexible foil undergoing pitching oscillations in a low-speed hydrodynamic tunnel is used to examine the effect of chord-wise foil flexibility in the dynamical features of flapping-based propulsion. We compare the regime…
Fish swim by undulating their bodies. These propulsive motions require coordinated shape changes of a body that interacts with its fluid environment, but the specific shape coordination that leads to robust turning and swimming motions…
Fish schools are ubiquitous in marine life. Although flow interactions are thought to be beneficial for schooling, their exact effects on the speed, energetics, and stability of the group remain elusive. Recent experiments suggest that flow…
The capacity for aerial maneuvering shaped the evolution of flying animals. Here we evaluate consequences of aviaian morphology for aerial performance (1,2) by quantifying static stability and control effectiveness of physical models (3)…
We show how phasing between tandem bioinspired fins flapping at high-stroke amplitudes modulates rear fin thrust production and wake characteristics. Load cell thrust measurements show that the rear fin generates 25% more thrust than the…
A single flexible filament can be actuated to escape from the scallop theorem and generate net propulsion at low Reynolds number. In this work, we study the dynamics of a simple boundary-driven multi-filament swimmer, a two-arm clamshell…
Fish gills are one of the most primitive gas/solute exchange organs, having the highest ventilation volume, present in nature. Such performance is attributed to a functional unit of gill - secondary lamella - that can extract oxygen from an…
Submerged flapping foils can convert wave energy directly into thrust, which could be potentially utilised for green marine propulsion. This study analyses the wave-induced flapping hydrofoil propulsion using an in-house developed, new…
Understanding the interplay between hydrodynamics and chemical sensing in aquatic environments is crucial for unraveling biological swimmers' navigation, foraging, and communication strategies. This study investigates the role of kinematics…
Exposing an Evolutionary Algorithm that is used to evolve robot controllers to variable conditions is necessary to obtain solutions which are robust and can cross the reality gap. However, we do not yet have methods for analyzing and…
This work describes a novel mechanism of laminar flow control of a backward swept wing with a comb-like leading edge device. It is inspired by the leading-edge comb on owl feathers and the special design of its barbs, resembling a cascade…
Bats' dynamic morphing wings are known to be extremely high-dimensional, and they employ the combination of inertial dynamics and aerodynamics manipulations to showcase extremely agile maneuvers. Bats heavily rely on their highly flexible…
It has been a long-standing problem how schooling fish optimize their motion by exploiting the vortices shed by the others. A recent experimental study showed that a pair of fish reduce energy consumption by matching the phases of their…