Speed limits on swimming of fishes and cetaceans. |
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Authors: | G Iosilevskii D Weihs |
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Affiliation: | Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, Technion, Haifa 32000, Israel. igil@aerodyne.technion.ac.il |
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Abstract: | Physical limits on swimming speed of lunate tail propelled aquatic animals are proposed. A hydrodynamic analysis, applying experimental data wherever possible, is used to show that small swimmers (roughly less than a metre long) are limited by the available power, while larger swimmers at a few metres below the water surface are limited by cavitation. Depending on the caudal fin cross-section, 10-15 m s(-1) is shown to be the maximum cavitation-free velocity for all swimmers at a shallow depth. |
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Keywords: | swimming speed maximal speed limit cavitation |
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