Experimental study and numerical simulation of hydrodynamics for fish-like underwater vehicle

Abstract

This article presents the results of experimental and computational modeling of the movement of a fish-like underwater robot. The experimental 3D model is constructed from photographs of Pacific bluefin tuna. This model allows us to study biomorphic swimming with various motion parameters, namely: the amplitude and frequency of strokes is set by the servo control signal, the angle between the tail fin and the elastic plate is set by the number and stiffness of springs in the hinge. The calculation method involves the joint solution of the equations of dynamics of the robot and the equations of hydrodynamics of the fluid flowing around it. For this task, an original mesh deformation algorithm was developed that allows hydrodynamic calculations to be performed near the tail of the model performing transverse oscillations. The use of deformable mesh technology allows you to reproduce the shape of the tail vibrations as accurately as possible. In addition, the calculation scheme has the property of conservativeness, which makes it possible to obtain high quality calculations, confirmed by comparison with experimental data.