Hydrodynamic interactions of low-aspect-ratio oscillating panels in a tip-to-tip formation
Fuente:
arXiv
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Preprint |
| Published: |
2025
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1866912455752417280 |
|---|---|
| author | Pan, Yu Zhu, Yuanhang Westfall, Elizabeth Quinn, Daniel B. Dong, Haibo Lauder, George V. |
| author_facet | Pan, Yu Zhu, Yuanhang Westfall, Elizabeth Quinn, Daniel B. Dong, Haibo Lauder, George V. |
| contents | The vertical, tip-to-tip arrangement of neighboring caudal fins, common in densely packed fish schools, has received much less attention than staggered or side-by-side pairings. We explore this configuration using a canonical system of two trapezoidal plates (aspect ratio AR = 1.2) that pitch about their leading edges while heaving harmonically at a Strouhal number St = 0.45 and a reduced frequency k = 2.09. Direct numerical simulations based on an immersed-boundary method are conducted over a Reynolds number range of 600 <= Re <= 1e4, and complementary water-channel experiments extend this range to 1e4 <= Re <= 3e4, thereby validating the computations at higher flow speeds. Results indicate that when the plates oscillate in phase at a nondimensional vertical spacing H/c <= 1.0, the cycle-averaged thrust coefficient of each plate rises by up to 14.5% relative to an isolated plate; the enhancement decreases monotonically as the spacing increases. Anti-phase motion instead lowers the time-average power coefficient by up to 6%, with only a modest thrust penalty, providing an alternative interaction regime. Flow visualization shows that in-phase kinematics accelerate the stream between the plates, intensifying the adjacent leading-edge vortices. Downstream, the initially separate vortex rings merge into a single, larger ring that is strongly compressed in the spanwise direction; this wake compression correlates with the measured thrust gain. The interaction mechanism and its quantitative benefits persist throughout the entire numerical and experimental Reynolds-number sweep, indicating weak Re-sensitivity within 600 <= Re <= 3e4. These results provide the first three-dimensional characterization of tip-to-tip flapping-plate interactions, establish scaling trends with spacing and phase, and offer a reference data set for reduced-order models of vertically stacked propulsors. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2506_22612 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Hydrodynamic interactions of low-aspect-ratio oscillating panels in a tip-to-tip formation Pan, Yu Zhu, Yuanhang Westfall, Elizabeth Quinn, Daniel B. Dong, Haibo Lauder, George V. Fluid Dynamics The vertical, tip-to-tip arrangement of neighboring caudal fins, common in densely packed fish schools, has received much less attention than staggered or side-by-side pairings. We explore this configuration using a canonical system of two trapezoidal plates (aspect ratio AR = 1.2) that pitch about their leading edges while heaving harmonically at a Strouhal number St = 0.45 and a reduced frequency k = 2.09. Direct numerical simulations based on an immersed-boundary method are conducted over a Reynolds number range of 600 <= Re <= 1e4, and complementary water-channel experiments extend this range to 1e4 <= Re <= 3e4, thereby validating the computations at higher flow speeds. Results indicate that when the plates oscillate in phase at a nondimensional vertical spacing H/c <= 1.0, the cycle-averaged thrust coefficient of each plate rises by up to 14.5% relative to an isolated plate; the enhancement decreases monotonically as the spacing increases. Anti-phase motion instead lowers the time-average power coefficient by up to 6%, with only a modest thrust penalty, providing an alternative interaction regime. Flow visualization shows that in-phase kinematics accelerate the stream between the plates, intensifying the adjacent leading-edge vortices. Downstream, the initially separate vortex rings merge into a single, larger ring that is strongly compressed in the spanwise direction; this wake compression correlates with the measured thrust gain. The interaction mechanism and its quantitative benefits persist throughout the entire numerical and experimental Reynolds-number sweep, indicating weak Re-sensitivity within 600 <= Re <= 3e4. These results provide the first three-dimensional characterization of tip-to-tip flapping-plate interactions, establish scaling trends with spacing and phase, and offer a reference data set for reduced-order models of vertically stacked propulsors. |
| title | Hydrodynamic interactions of low-aspect-ratio oscillating panels in a tip-to-tip formation |
| topic | Fluid Dynamics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.22612 |