Propulsion of a flexible foil in a wavy flow: resonance, antiresonance, and destructive self-interference

Fuente: arXiv
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Autores principales: Rehman, Abdur, Floryan, Daniel
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2025
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author Rehman, Abdur
Floryan, Daniel
author_facet Rehman, Abdur
Floryan, Daniel
contents Swimming and flying animals demonstrate remarkable adaptations to diverse flow conditions in their environments. In this study, we aim to advance the fundamental understanding of the interaction between flexible bodies and heterogeneous flow conditions. We develop a linear inviscid model of an elastically mounted foil that passively pitches in response to a prescribed heaving motion and an incoming flow that consists of a traveling wave disturbance superposed on a uniform flow. In addition to the well-known resonant response, the wavy flow induces an antiresonant response for non-dimensional phase velocities near unity due to the emergence of non-circulatory forces that oppose circulatory forces. We also find that the wavy flow destructively interferes with itself, effectively rendering the foil a low-pass filter. The net result is that the waviness of the flow always improves thrust and efficiency when the wavy flow is of a different frequency than the prescribed heaving motion. Such a simple statement cannot be made when the wavy flow and heaving motion have the same frequency. Depending on the wavenumber and relative phase, the two may work in concert or in opposition, but they do open the possibility of simultaneous propulsion and net energy extraction from the flow, which, according to our model, is impossible in a uniform flow.
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id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2505_15723
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Propulsion of a flexible foil in a wavy flow: resonance, antiresonance, and destructive self-interference
Rehman, Abdur
Floryan, Daniel
Fluid Dynamics
Swimming and flying animals demonstrate remarkable adaptations to diverse flow conditions in their environments. In this study, we aim to advance the fundamental understanding of the interaction between flexible bodies and heterogeneous flow conditions. We develop a linear inviscid model of an elastically mounted foil that passively pitches in response to a prescribed heaving motion and an incoming flow that consists of a traveling wave disturbance superposed on a uniform flow. In addition to the well-known resonant response, the wavy flow induces an antiresonant response for non-dimensional phase velocities near unity due to the emergence of non-circulatory forces that oppose circulatory forces. We also find that the wavy flow destructively interferes with itself, effectively rendering the foil a low-pass filter. The net result is that the waviness of the flow always improves thrust and efficiency when the wavy flow is of a different frequency than the prescribed heaving motion. Such a simple statement cannot be made when the wavy flow and heaving motion have the same frequency. Depending on the wavenumber and relative phase, the two may work in concert or in opposition, but they do open the possibility of simultaneous propulsion and net energy extraction from the flow, which, according to our model, is impossible in a uniform flow.
title Propulsion of a flexible foil in a wavy flow: resonance, antiresonance, and destructive self-interference
topic Fluid Dynamics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.15723