Session GT: Biolocomotion V: Flapping and Flying I
8:00 AM–10:10 AM, Monday, November 22, 2010
Long Beach Convention Center Room: Grand Ballroom B
Chair: Alexandra Techet, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract ID: BAPS.2010.DFD.GT.9
Abstract: GT.00009 : Flexible Flapping Foils
9:44 AM–9:57 AM
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Abstract 
Authors:
Catherine Marais
(PMMH UMR7636 CNRS; ESPCI ParisTech; UPMC; Universit\'e Paris Diderot)
Ramiro Godoy-Diana
(PMMH UMR7636 CNRS; ESPCI ParisTech; UPMC; Universit\'e Paris Diderot)
Jos\'e Eduardo Wesfreid
(PMMH UMR7636 CNRS; ESPCI ParisTech; UPMC; Universit\'e Paris Diderot)
Hydrodynamic tunnel experiments with flexible flapping foils of 4:1 span-to-chord aspect ratio are used in the present work to study the effect of foil compliance in the dynamical features of a propulsive wake. The average thrust force produced by the foil is estimated from 2D PIV measurements and the regime transitions in the wake are characterized according to a flapping frequency-amplitude phase diagram as in Godoy-Diana et al. (Phys. Rev. E 77, 016308, 2008). We show that the thrust production regime occurs on a broader region of the parameter space for flexible foils, with propulsive forces up to 3 times greater than for the rigid case. We examine in detail the vortex generation at the trailing edge of the foils, and propose a mechanism to explain how foil deformation leads to an optimization of propulsion.
To cite this abstract, use the following reference: http://meetings.aps.org/link/BAPS.2010.DFD.GT.9