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Analytical results for pitching kinematics and propulsion performance of flexible foil

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 January 2024

Feng Du Open the ORCID record for Feng Du [Opens in a new window]  and
Jianghao Wu
Feng Du*
Affiliation:
Beihang University, Beijing 100191, PR China
Jianghao Wu
Affiliation:
Beihang University, Beijing 100191, PR China
*
†Email address for correspondence: fengdu@buaa.edu.cn
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Abstract

Natural flyers and swimmers employ flexible wings or fins to propel. While the complex interaction between the foil with deformation and the surrounding non-steady fluid environment defines the propulsion performance of the propellers, elucidating the interaction mechanism through theoretical models earns much challenge. Based on elastokinetics and linear potential flow theory, this study proposes a simplified analytical model to clarify the kinematics and the propulsion performance of a flexible thin foil pitching in flow. The dynamical forces, including the inertial force of the foil and the non-steady fluid pressure, are used to determine the averaged deformation angle of the foil. Combining the averaged deformation angle and the prescribed driving pitching motion, the kinematics of the foil is resolved analytically. Based on the analytical expressions for the corresponding pitching motion, analytical relations among the physical parameters of the stiffness and the mass of the foil and the driving frequency are given to these critical conditions, including resonance of the flow–structure system, equal pitching amplitude between the flexible foil and the rigid counterpart, phase angle transition from ${\rm \pi}/2$ to $- {\rm \pi}/2$. Subsequently, the performance of the foil, including the thrust, the power and the propulsive efficiency, as a function of the flexibility of the foil are derived, together with the introduction of a bluff body type offset drag to the thrust. The formulated analytical theory, which matches nicely with previous reports, will help to interpret the effect of the flexibility and regulate the propulsive performance of the flexible foil when pitching in fluid.

JFM classification

Aerodynamics: Flow-structure interactions Biological Fluid Dynamics: Swimming/flying Biological Fluid Dynamics: Propulsion
Type
JFM Papers
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 979 , 25 January 2024 , A5
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press

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