Numerical simulation for biomimetic robot fish

Abstract

The present project for developing a robot fish is aimed to make an eco-friendly robot for monitoring water pollution and quality in domestic major rivers. In line with that, the present numerical study using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is carried out for investigating the swimming characteristics of biomimetic robot fish. Unsteady Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (URANS) formulation is applied to the complex turbulent flow fields generated by the movement of the robot fish. In the present study, the caudal fin shape is focused and its contribution for the thrust or drag force is investigated for the robot fish. Firstly, 3-dimentional CAD model of the robot fish is made. In particular, four types of caudal fins are designed following the shape of natural fishes and their performances are scrutinized and compared. From the results, flow vortical motions are different according to the caudal fin configuration and these cause particular thrust or drag force of the robot fish.