Passing the Wake: Using Multiple Fins to Shape Forces for Swimming

Fish use coordinated motions of multiple fins and their body to swim and maneuver underwater with more agility than contemporary unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs). The location, utilization and kinematics of fins vary for different locomotory tasks and fish species. The relative position and timin...

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Main Authors: Anthony P. Mignano, Shraman Kadapa, James L. Tangorra, George V. Lauder
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2019-03-01
Series:Biomimetics
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.mdpi.com/2313-7673/4/1/23
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author Anthony P. Mignano
Shraman Kadapa
James L. Tangorra
George V. Lauder
author_facet Anthony P. Mignano
Shraman Kadapa
James L. Tangorra
George V. Lauder
author_sort Anthony P. Mignano
collection DOAJ
description Fish use coordinated motions of multiple fins and their body to swim and maneuver underwater with more agility than contemporary unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs). The location, utilization and kinematics of fins vary for different locomotory tasks and fish species. The relative position and timing (phase) of fins affects how the downstream fins interact with the wake shed by the upstream fins and body, and change the magnitude and temporal profile of the net force vector. A multifin biorobotic experimental platform and a two-dimensional computational fluid dynamic simulation were used to understand how the propulsive forces produced by multiple fins were affected by the phase and geometric relationships between them. This investigation has revealed that forces produced by interacting fins are very different from the vector sum of forces from combinations of noninteracting fins, and that manipulating the phase and location of multiple interacting fins greatly affect the magnitude and shape of the produced propulsive forces. The changes in net forces are due, in large part, to time-varying wakes from dorsal and anal fins altering the flow experienced by the downstream body and caudal fin. These findings represent a potentially powerful means of manipulating the swimming forces produced by multifinned robotic systems.
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spelling doaj.art-276db45da02b4e3a8d7c624e2889da622022-12-21T17:51:06ZengMDPI AGBiomimetics2313-76732019-03-01412310.3390/biomimetics4010023biomimetics4010023Passing the Wake: Using Multiple Fins to Shape Forces for SwimmingAnthony P. Mignano0Shraman Kadapa1James L. Tangorra2George V. Lauder3Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USADepartment of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USADepartment of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USADepartment of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USAFish use coordinated motions of multiple fins and their body to swim and maneuver underwater with more agility than contemporary unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs). The location, utilization and kinematics of fins vary for different locomotory tasks and fish species. The relative position and timing (phase) of fins affects how the downstream fins interact with the wake shed by the upstream fins and body, and change the magnitude and temporal profile of the net force vector. A multifin biorobotic experimental platform and a two-dimensional computational fluid dynamic simulation were used to understand how the propulsive forces produced by multiple fins were affected by the phase and geometric relationships between them. This investigation has revealed that forces produced by interacting fins are very different from the vector sum of forces from combinations of noninteracting fins, and that manipulating the phase and location of multiple interacting fins greatly affect the magnitude and shape of the produced propulsive forces. The changes in net forces are due, in large part, to time-varying wakes from dorsal and anal fins altering the flow experienced by the downstream body and caudal fin. These findings represent a potentially powerful means of manipulating the swimming forces produced by multifinned robotic systems.http://www.mdpi.com/2313-7673/4/1/23fishfin–fin interactionbioroboticmultifincomputational fluid dynamicsflow visualization
spellingShingle Anthony P. Mignano
Shraman Kadapa
James L. Tangorra
George V. Lauder
Passing the Wake: Using Multiple Fins to Shape Forces for Swimming
Biomimetics
fish
fin–fin interaction
biorobotic
multifin
computational fluid dynamics
flow visualization
title Passing the Wake: Using Multiple Fins to Shape Forces for Swimming
title_full Passing the Wake: Using Multiple Fins to Shape Forces for Swimming
title_fullStr Passing the Wake: Using Multiple Fins to Shape Forces for Swimming
title_full_unstemmed Passing the Wake: Using Multiple Fins to Shape Forces for Swimming
title_short Passing the Wake: Using Multiple Fins to Shape Forces for Swimming
title_sort passing the wake using multiple fins to shape forces for swimming
topic fish
fin–fin interaction
biorobotic
multifin
computational fluid dynamics
flow visualization
url http://www.mdpi.com/2313-7673/4/1/23
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AT georgevlauder passingthewakeusingmultiplefinstoshapeforcesforswimming