Numerical simulation of a multi-body system mimicking coupled active and passive movements of fish swimming

Hu, Jianxin and Xiao, Qing and Li, Ruoxin (2021) Numerical simulation of a multi-body system mimicking coupled active and passive movements of fish swimming. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, 9 (3). 334. ISSN 2077-1312 (https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse9030334)

[thumbnail of Hu-etal-JMSE-2021-Numerical-simulation-of-a-multi-body-system-mimicking-coupled-active]
Preview
Text. Filename: Hu_etal_JMSE_2021_Numerical_simulation_of_a_multi_body_system_mimicking_coupled_active.pdf
Final Published Version
License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 logo

Download (1MB)| Preview

Abstract

A multi-body system model is proposed for the mimicking of swimming fish with coupled active and passive movements. The relevant algorithms of the kinematics and dynamics of the multi-body system and coupled fluid solver are developed and fully validated. A simplified three-body model is applied for the investigation of the hydrodynamic performance of both an active pitch motion and passive movement. In general, there is an optimal stiffness, under which the model swims with the fastest velocity. The effect of the damper can be drawn only when the stiffness is small. Comparing with the rigid tail, the flexible tail leads to a faster speed when the stiffness and damping coefficients are in a suitable range.