Optimal specific wavelength for maximum thrust production in undulatory propulsion

Nishant Nangia; Rahul Bale; Nelson Chen; Yohanna Hanna; Neelesh A. Patankar

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0179727

Optimal specific wavelength for maximum thrust production in undulatory propulsion

Nishant Nangia, Rahul Bale, Nelson Chen, Yohanna Hanna, Neelesh A. Patankar

Mechanical Engineering

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

21 Scopus citations

Abstract

What wavelengths do undulatory swimmers use during propulsion? In this work we find that a wide range of body/caudal fin (BCF) swimmers, from larval zebrafish and herring to fully± grown eels, use specific wavelength (ratio of wavelength to tail amplitude of undulation) values that fall within a relatively narrow range. The possible emergence of this constraint is interrogated using numerical simulations of fluid±structure interaction. Based on these, it was found that there is an optimal specific wavelength (OSW) that maximizes the swimming speed and thrust generated by an undulatory swimmer. The observed values of specific wavelength for BCF animals are relatively close to this OSW. The mechanisms underlying the maximum propulsive thrust for BCF swimmers are quantified and are found to be consistent with the mechanisms hypothesized in prior work. The adherence to an optimal value of specific wavelength in most natural hydrodynamic propulsors gives rise to empirical design criteria for man±made propulsors.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	e0179727
Journal	PloS one
Volume	12
Issue number	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0179727
State	Published - Jun 2017

Funding

This work was supported by National Science Foundation grants CBET–0828749, CMMI-0941674 and CBET–1066575 to NAP. Computational resources were provided by Northwestern University High Performance Computing System–Quest. This work used the Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment (XSEDE), which is supported by National Science Foundation grant number ACI-1053575. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship under Grant No. DGE–1324585 to NN. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

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title = "Optimal specific wavelength for maximum thrust production in undulatory propulsion",

abstract = "What wavelengths do undulatory swimmers use during propulsion? In this work we find that a wide range of body/caudal fin (BCF) swimmers, from larval zebrafish and herring to fully± grown eels, use specific wavelength (ratio of wavelength to tail amplitude of undulation) values that fall within a relatively narrow range. The possible emergence of this constraint is interrogated using numerical simulations of fluid±structure interaction. Based on these, it was found that there is an optimal specific wavelength (OSW) that maximizes the swimming speed and thrust generated by an undulatory swimmer. The observed values of specific wavelength for BCF animals are relatively close to this OSW. The mechanisms underlying the maximum propulsive thrust for BCF swimmers are quantified and are found to be consistent with the mechanisms hypothesized in prior work. The adherence to an optimal value of specific wavelength in most natural hydrodynamic propulsors gives rise to empirical design criteria for man±made propulsors.",

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AU - Bale, Rahul

AU - Chen, Nelson

AU - Hanna, Yohanna

AU - Patankar, Neelesh A.

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2017 Nangia et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

PY - 2017/6

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N2 - What wavelengths do undulatory swimmers use during propulsion? In this work we find that a wide range of body/caudal fin (BCF) swimmers, from larval zebrafish and herring to fully± grown eels, use specific wavelength (ratio of wavelength to tail amplitude of undulation) values that fall within a relatively narrow range. The possible emergence of this constraint is interrogated using numerical simulations of fluid±structure interaction. Based on these, it was found that there is an optimal specific wavelength (OSW) that maximizes the swimming speed and thrust generated by an undulatory swimmer. The observed values of specific wavelength for BCF animals are relatively close to this OSW. The mechanisms underlying the maximum propulsive thrust for BCF swimmers are quantified and are found to be consistent with the mechanisms hypothesized in prior work. The adherence to an optimal value of specific wavelength in most natural hydrodynamic propulsors gives rise to empirical design criteria for man±made propulsors.

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Optimal specific wavelength for maximum thrust production in undulatory propulsion

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