Using spanwise flexibility of caudal fin to improve swimming performance for small fishlike robots

This paper examines the beneficial effects of the spanwise flexibility of the caudal fin for the improvement of the swimming performance for small fishlike robots. A virtual swimmer is adopted for controlled numerical experiments by varying the spanwise flexible trajectories and the spanwise flexible size of the caudal fin while keeping the body kinematics fixed. 3-D Navier-Stokes equations are used to compute the viscous flow over the robot. Elliptical, parabolic and hyperbola trajectories are chosen to describe the spanwise flexible profile of the caudal fin. According to the sign(positive or negative) of the phase difference of the swinging motion, the spanwise flexibility can be divided into the fin surface of "bow" and the fin surface of "scoop". It is observed that for both the fin surface of "bow" and the fin surface of "scoop", the spanwise elliptical trajectory has the optimal swimming velocity, thrust, lateral force, and efficiency. With comparisons, using the flexible caudal fin with the fin surface of "bow", the lateral force and the power consumption can be reduced effectively and the swimming stability can be increased while reducing little the swimming velocity and thrust. Meanwhile, using the flexible caudal fin with the fin surface of "scoop" can greatly improve the swimming velocity, thrust, and efficiency while increasing part of the lateral force and the power consumption. Three-dimensional flow structures clearly indicate the evolution process around the swimming robot. It is suggested that the fish, the dolphin, and other aquatic animals may benefit their hydrodynamic performance by the spanwise flexibility of the caudal fin.     

The energy-saving advantages of burst-and-glide mode for thunniform swimming

This paper explores the energy-saving advantages of the burst-and-glide swimming and compares it with the normal self-swimming for a thunniform swimmer. The virtual swimmer allows us to perform controlled numerical experiments by varying the swinging tail number and the duty cycle while keeping the other parameters fixed. 3-D Navier-Stokes equations are used to compute the viscous flow over the swimmer. The user-defined functions and the dynamic mesh technology are used to simulate the burst-and-glide swimming. The results show that with the increase of the swinging tail number or the duty cycle, the swimming velocity, the power and the efficiency all increase, but the velocity-power ratio decreases somewhat. Therefore, choosing smaller swinging tail number and duty cycle is beneficial in reducing the power and increasing the velocity-power ratio, and thus to obtain the same velocity, less power is consumed. And to swim the same distance, the energy can significantly be saved. The power consumption, the efficiency and the velocity-power ratio in the burst-and-glide case are 43.9%, 40.6% and 1.15 times of those in the normal swimming case, respectively. The flow structures clearly show the evolution process around the fish in the burst-and-glide swimming. The findings can be used to reasonably plan the swimming action and to take the advantage of the external flow field energy for the fishlike robot, to be more efficient and energy-saving.     

NUMERICAL STUDIES ON THE PROPULSION AND WAKE STRUCTURES OF FINITE-SPAN FLAPPING WINGS WITH DIFFERENT ASPECT RATIOS

An immersed-boundary method is used to investigate the flapping wings with different aspect ratios ranging from 1 to 5. The numerical results on wake structures and the performance of the propulsion are given. Unlike the case of the two-dimensional flapping foil, the wing-tip vortices appear for the flow past a three-dimensional flapping wing, which makes the wake vortex structures much different. The results show that the leading edge vortex merges into the trailing edge vortex, connects with the wing tip vortices and then sheds from the wing. A vortex ring forms in the wake, and exhibits different patterns for different foil aspect ratios. Analysis of hydrodynamic performances shows that both thrust coefficient and efficiency of the flapping wing increase with increasing aspect ratio.     

NUMERICAL STUDIES ON LOCOMOTION PERFROMANCE OF FISHLIKE TAIL FINS

Flapping plates of typical fishlike tail shapes are simulated to investigate their locomotion performance using the multi-block Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM) and Immersed Boundary (IB) method. Numerical results show that fishlike forked configurations have better locomotion performance compared with unforked plates. Based on our results, the caudal fin in carangiform mode has greater thrust, and the lunate tail fin in thunniform mode has higher efficiency. These findings are qualitatively consistent with biological observations of fish swimming. Analysis of wake topology shows that the wake of the forked plate consists of a chain of alternating reverse horseshoe-like vortical structures. These structures induce a backward jet and generate a positive thrust. Moreover, this backward jet has a more favorable direction compared with that behind an unforked plate.     

A NUMERICAL STUDY ON MECHANISM OF S-STARTS OF NORTHERN PIKE （ESOX LUCIUS）

Northern pike is regarded as a specialist in swimming acceleration. The force production mechanism of northern pike,Esox lucius,during its predation S-starts was numerically studied in this article. The problem was reasonably simplified to a loose-coupling problem of fish swimming dynamics and hydrodynamics just in the swimming direction. The approach involved the simulation of the flow by solving the two-dimensional unsteady incompressible Navier-Stokes equations and decribing the fish motion dynamics based on Newton’s Second Law. Visualizations of flow fields and vortex structures were performed. The results show that the large acceleration is obtained mainly in the first undulatory cycle in which the amplitude increases. In the second cycle,a couple of vortices are generated and induce a jet. In the third cycle,the jet is strengthened by the mergence of the vortices in the same direction. Through discussing the effects of various controllable factors on the swimming performance,it is found that the actual locomotion mode of the northern pike in nature is just the best choice.     

影响轴流转桨式水轮机过鱼能力的关键运行参数

为减小鱼类在水轮机流道内遭受损伤的概率,提高水轮机过鱼能力,在明确鱼类通过水轮机流道遭受损伤的机理的基础上,结合流道三维水动力分布特性和过机鱼类水动力损伤阈值,构建水轮机流道水动力过鱼能力评价方法.以长江四大家鱼幼鱼通过葛洲坝水电站ZZ500型水轮机流道下行为研究实例,探讨影响轴流转桨式水轮机过鱼能力的关键运行参数.结...     

高速潜水轴流泵大流量工况的空化特性

为了研究大流量工况下高速潜水轴流泵的空化特性,基于ANSYS CFX软件,选取Zwart、Kunz以及Schnerr-Sauer 3种空化模型进行大流量工况下高速潜水轴流泵外特性和泵内空化流动特性数值模拟。结果表明:大流量工况下Schnerr-Sauer空化模型预测的外特性变化趋势与试验值最为吻合,相较于另两种空化模型,Schnerr-Sauer空化模型模拟的叶片背面空泡体积分数较高;空化严重区域主要出现在叶片背面进口附近以及叶顶,同一空化数下,流量越大,叶片空化状况越严重;叶片载荷分布由叶片进口边到出口边呈先增大后减小的趋势;各流量下空泡首先出现在叶片背面进口前缘位置,随着空化数的减小,空泡体积分数沿着主流方向朝叶片后缘不断增大直至空泡占据整个叶片背面;叶片背面处的三角形云状空化尾缘空穴极不稳定,随着叶轮旋转,尾缘处空泡微团逐渐脱落,朝着相邻叶片不断移动,对相邻叶片的工作面产生侵蚀破坏,导致叶片载荷发生变化,对轴流泵水力性能产生影响。     

NUMERICAL STUDY ON PROPULSIVE PERFORMANCE OF FISH-LIKE SWIMMING FOILS

1. INTRODUCTION The study of the movement of fishes can be very informative in exploring mechanisms of unsteady flow control because movements in fish is a result of many millions of years of evolutionary optimization. Previous studies have shed light on …     

Effect of a vertical half cylinder on swimming of silver carp,Hypophthalmichthys molitrix: Implications for microhabitat restoration and fishway design

In recent years, the relationship between hydraulics associated with the substrate and fish swimming behaviour has become increasingly important to the design of microhabitat around substrates for river restoration. To better understand the hydraulics associated with substrate on fish swimming, we studied the effects of a vertical half cylinder (hereafter, cylinder) on the critical swimming speed of juvenile silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix). Absolute and relative critical swimming speeds of fish in the flow field of the cylinder were significantly increased compared with those swimming in free flow. In addition, the amplitude of fish head and tail oscillations were significantly greater in flows created by the half cylinder. This study highlights the importance of roughness elements in stream microhabitat restoration and, possibly, for fishway design.     

Studies of hydrodynamics in fishlike swimming propulsion

In this paper, we will attempt to provide an overview on the hydrodynamics of fishlike swimming propulsion based on our recent work performed experimentally, numerically and theoretically. We mainly present some typical work, including measurement on kinematics of free-swimming fish and prediction of dynamics acting on an arbitrarily deformable body, numerical and experimental simulations of flow over flapping and traveling wavy bodies, and the relevant biomimetic technology.

     

非对称尾部形状水翼水力阻尼识别方法研究

水力阻尼是影响流激振动幅值预测精度的关键参数,是水力机械流激振动领域研究的热点问题。非对称尾部形状水翼在涡激振动和升力的联合作用下,振动响应的平衡位置具有时变特性,采用传统自由振动衰减法获得的水力阻尼比误差大幅度增加,甚至失效。为了克服传统自由振动衰减法应用局限,本文借助双向流固耦合数值模拟方法获得流激振动响应位移,通过带通滤波结合平衡位置校准,研究了动水环境中对称和非对称尾部形状水翼水力阻尼的识别方法。结果表明,数值模拟可较准确获取低阶结构模态和尾部旋涡脱落频率,相比实验结果,低阶弯曲模态频率、低阶扭曲模态频率和15 m/s流速下脱落涡频率最大偏差分别为7.58%、2.90%和1.42%;带通滤波可消除周期性涡激振动对响应信号的影响,水力阻尼比识别偏差度从7.51%下降到1.92%;平衡位置校准方法可采用多项式拟合法、线性插值法和光滑样条曲线法,所对应的水力阻尼比识别偏差度分别为34.93%、3.53%和0.16%。工程上,可优先推荐滤波结合线性插值法,在需要高精度水力阻尼比的场合,则必须采用滤波结合光滑样条曲线法。     

Numerical Investigation of Performance of an Axial-Flow Pump With Inducer

The interaction of flow through the inducer and impeller of an axial-flow pump equipped with an inducer has significant effect on its performance. This article presents a recent numerical investigation on this topic. The studied pump has an inducer with 3 blades mounted on a conical hub and a 6-blade impeller. The blade angle of the impeller is adjustable to generate different relative circumferential angles between the inducer blade trailing edge and the impeller blade leading edge. A computational fluid dynamics code was used to investigate the flow characteristics and performance of the axial-flow pump. For turbulence closure, the RNG k-ε model was applied with an unstructured grid system. The rotor-stator interaction was treated with a Multiple Reference Frame (MRF) strategy. Computations were performed in different cases: 7 different relative circumferential angles ( Δθ ) between the inducer blade trailing edge and the impeller blade leading edge, and 3 different axial gaps (G) between the inducer and the impeller. The variation of the hydraulic loss in the rotator was obtained by changing Δθ . The numerical results show that the pressure generated is minimum in the case of ( G = 3%D), which indicates that the interference between inducer and impeller is strong if the axial gap is small. The pump performances were predicted and compared to the experimental measurements. Recommendations for future modifications and improvements to the pump design were also given.     

流道宽度及来流速度对鲫鱼运动模式的影响

为考察鲫鱼在不同流道宽度和来流速度下的运动模式,在自循环型水槽中进行了鱼游运动观测实验。实验用鱼体长18~20 cm,体重180~200 g,流道宽度为7~60 cm,来流速度0.1~0.6 m/s。利用高速摄影对不同条件下的鲫鱼游泳运动过程进行了记录,使用image Pro等图像数据分析软件对鱼游运动的摆尾频率、振幅、体波数等参数进行了定量分析,并拟合得到了鱼游运动方程,归纳了各运动参数随来流速度和流道宽度的变化规律。分析结果表明:鲫鱼的摆动频率、摆动幅度及体波数随来流速度变化有明显的改变,而流道宽度对鱼游泳运动模式的影响有限;来流速度增大,鱼的运动频率、运动幅度、体波数均有所增加。目前与鱼游运动相关的研究多集中于流速对其摆尾频率和振幅的影响,少有探讨鱼体摆动的体波数这一参数,更少有探究流道宽度对鱼运动的影响。研究成果积累了相关实验数据,可增加对鱼游运动机理的认识,为鱼类洄游通道恢复措施的制定提供理论支撑。     

DYNAMICS OF FREE STRAIGHT SWIMMING OF ANGULLA ANGULLA INCLUDING FORWARD, BRAKING AND BACKWARD LOCOMOTION

Eels can swim backward by reversing the direction of the traveling wave along the body. The propulsive mechanism of an eel, angulla angulla, during its self-propelled straight swimming, including forward swimming, braking and switching direction to backward swimming was numerically studied. The problem was reasonably simplified to a loose-coupling problem of fish swimming dynamics and hydrodynamics only in the swimming direction. The approach involved the simulation of the flow by solving the two-dimensional unsteady incompressible N-S equations and the fish motion dynamic problem with Newton’s second law. Visualizations of flow fields and vortex structures were performed. The propulsive mechanism and dynamics during each process were investigated and the effects of controllable factors on forward free swimming were discussed.     

Performance of the bio-inspired leading edge protuberances on a static wing and a pitching wing

It is shown that the leading edge protuberances on the flippers of a humpback whale can significantly improve the hydrodynamic performance. The present study numerically investigates the flow control mechanisms of the leading edge protuberances on a static wing and a pitching wing. For static wings, the performance in both laminar flow and turbulent flow are studied in the context of the flow control mechanisms. It is shown that the protuberances have slight effects on the performance of static wings in laminar flow. Also, it could be deduced that non-uniform downwash does not delay the stall occurrence in either laminar flow or turbulent flow. In turbulent flow, the leading edge protuberances act in a manner similar to vortex generators, enhancing the momentum exchange within the boundary layer. Streamwise vortices do contribute to the delay of the stall occurrence. The normal vorticity component also plays an important role in delaying the stall occurrence. However, for the pitching wing, the effect of leading edge protuberances is negligible in turbulent flow. Detailed analysis of the flow field indicates that for the wing with the leading edge protuberances, the leading edge vortices become more complex, while the thrust jet and the vortices in the wake are not changed significantly by the leading edge protuberances.     

NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF FISH SWIMMING WITH RIGID PECTORAL FINS

The numerical simulation of the self-propelled motion of a fish with a pair of rigid pectoral fins is presented.A Navier-Stokes equation solver incorporating with the multi-block and overset grid method is developed to deal with the multi-body and moving body problems.The lift-based swimming mode is selected for the fin motion.In the lift-based swimming mode,the fin can generate great thrust and at the same time have no generation of lift force.It can be found when a pair of rigid pectoral fins generates the hydrodynamic moment,it may also generate a lateral force opposite to the centripetal direction,which has adverse effect on the turn motion of the fish.Furthermore,the periodic vortex structure generation and shedding,and their effects on the generation of hydrodynamic force are also demonstrated in this article.     

基于离散元法的偏转型滑坡运动堆积特征分析

为了进一步认识山阳偏转型滑坡的运动特征,基于离散元数值方法对滑坡运动堆积过程进行模拟分析。结果表明:滑坡体前缘各监测点的岩土体的运动空间大小、能量传递效率及受到偏转阻止作用大小的不同是前缘岩土体运动速度表现出显著差异的主要原因;滑坡体中部各监测点的岩土体作为滑坡前、后缘岩土体能量传递的主要媒介,其运动速度表现出多次加速特征;滑坡体后缘各监测点的岩土体则主要经历加速和减速2个运动阶段。根据滑坡的运动速度和水平运程可将山阳滑坡划分为高速近程滑坡,其堆积体厚度分布总体表现为沿运动方向呈先增加后减小的变化趋势。     

垂直轴潮流能涡轮机水动特性研究

潮流能水轮机日益受到重视,针对其叶轮翼型水动力问题,提出了一种襟翼控制策略,计算不同襟翼翼型的垂直轴潮流能涡轮机水动力学动态特性,对比分析了襟翼控制前、后的垂直轴潮流能涡轮机力矩系数周期性变化规律。结果表明:所提控制策略可在不影响力矩系数均值的情况下,有效降低力矩系数振幅,且非对称襟翼翼型力矩系数振幅小于对称襟翼翼型;通过分析流场结构发现,施加控制策略的翼型尾缘流场较未施加控制策略的尾缘流场细长;襟翼控制叶片转过之后的尾涡贴合于旋转轨迹,对下游流场影响较小,易于耗散;发生大涡分离的方位角范围为160°~260°,叶片内侧涡强增大,而施加控制策略之后,该现象得到很好改善。     

三维薄翼入水水动力的计算

本文提供了一个计算三维薄翼高速入水水动力性能的非定常数值升力面方法。假设薄翼高速入水时,翼的背面为全空泡状态,当翼的随边进入液面后,此空泡域按一定的方向拖至自由液面。在翼的拱弧面上布置线涡和线源,在翼后空泡面上布置线源,所有的奇点系在自由液面上方存在映象以满足自由液面条件。根据翼迎流面的法向不可穿透条件和翼背面及翼后空泡面上的空泡动力学条件确定所有待定线涡和线源的强度,并由此可以计算各时刻翼上压力分布。利用本文提供的方法首先计算了二维薄翼入水的水动力性能,将结果与理论解进行比较,两者结果较为一致。然后,研究了三维薄翼的入水问题。     

基于B样条网格的三维水翼水动力性能研究

该文应用低阶速度势面元法建立了预报三维水翼水动力性能的数值方法，重点对翼梢和尾涡进行了研究。文中采用基于B样条的网格划分方法,在水翼前缘处的弦向网格线与外轮廓线正交,在尾缘处与尾涡离开的速度方向相一致。翼梢上尾涡分离点的位置采用迭代的方法进行确定。对于三维升力问题而言，横向流动的影响作用很大，本文对现有的库塔条件形式进行了改进，在考虑横流影响的前提下，满足随边荷载为零的条件。通过对计算结果与试验结果进行比较表明，将基于B样条的网格划分方法及改进的库塔条件应用于已有的面元法程序中，能够很好地改善计算结果的精度。