Bio-inspired

Scaling laws for 3D pitching hydrofoils

Building on our previous work on 2-D pitching airfoils, we explored how forces and torques scale for 3-D pitching airfoils. The terms we added to existing theories were inspired by the 3-D elliptical ring shapes of wake vortices. We validated the new terms by comparing our predictions with water channel experiments over a range of […]

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Stable equilibria exist for near-surface swimmers and fliers

Fish and birds experience different forces when they swim/fly near a flat surface (e.g. seabed, solid ground, still lake). We discovered that the vertical forces they feel switch from negative (downward) to positive (upward) at a particular distance from the surface. In other words, there’s a stable equilibrium altitude where they are neither pushed down

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Modeling lateral station-keeping in fish

Fish flap their tails asymmetrically to maneuver around obstacles. In contrast, classic fish tail models assume symmetric motions in a uniform flow. We tested how well these classic models work for maneuvering tails. In some cases, the models work well: even 2D wakeless models were able to predict the phase of high frequency lateral displacements.

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How dorsal fins make fish faster and more efficient

The dorsal and anal fins of fish interact with the tail fins to produce higher thrust and efficiency. We focused on thin elongated dorsal fins, like those of jackfish. We discovered that dorsal fins can act like the wing strakes of fighter jets, promoting flow attachment on a main lifting surface (wing/tail) by inducing spanwise

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How aspect-ratio affects near-ground swimmers

Animals and bio-inspired robots can swim/fly faster near solid surfaces like the seafloor. In the past, researchers had quantified how strong these effects were for two-dimensional airfoils. We studied how these results extend to the three-dimensional fins. We found that lowering the aspect ratio weakens the effect of the surface: thrust enhancements become less noticeable,

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