Hydromechanics of swimming propulsion. part 1. Swimming of a two-dimensional flexible plate at variable forward speeds in an inviscid fluid
- Creators
- Wu, T. Yao-Tsu
Abstract
The most effective movements of swimming aquatic animals of almost all sizes appear to have the form of a transverse wave progressing along the body from head to tail. The main features of this undulatory mode of propulsion are discussed for the case of large Reynolds number, based on the principle of energy conservation. The general problem of a two-dimensional flexible plate, swimming at arbitrary, unsteady forward speeds, is solved by applying the linearized inviscid flow theory. The large-time asymptotic behaviour of an initial-value harmonic motion shows the decay of the transient terms. For a flexible plate starting with a constant acceleration from at rest, the small-time solution is evaluated and the initial optimum shape is determined for the maximum thrust under conditions of fixed power and negligible body recoil.
Additional Information
"Reprinted with the permission of Cambridge University Press." (Received 21 July 1970). I am very much indebted to Professor M. J. Lighthill for interesting and stimulating discussions, and particularly for his kindness in giving me the privilege of knowing his great work (1970) prior to its publication. This work was partially sponsored by the National Science Foundation, under Grant GK 10216, and by the Office of Naval Research, under Contract N00014-67-AOO94-0012.Files
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Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 346
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:WUTjfm71a
- Created
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2005-06-05Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2019-10-02Created from EPrint's last_modified field