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About

Guoxin Yan is a researcher whose work lies at the intersection of bio-inspired fluid dynamics and unsteady propulsion, with a focus on understanding how oscillating and flexible foils generate thrust. His key research areas include the hydrodynamics of pitching and wavy foils, wake structure analysis, and the role of chord-wise flexibility in propulsive performance. Yan’s major contributions involve elucidating the mechanisms behind force generation and drag–thrust transitions in nonsinusoidal and traveling-wavy foils, providing critical insights for the design of biomimetic underwater vehicles and energy-harvesting devices. His most-cited paper, “Numerical investigations on the force generation and wake structures of a nonsinusoidal pitching foil” (2018), has accumulated 44 citations, highlighting its impact on the field. Other notable works, such as “On the thrust generation and wake structures of two travelling-wavy foils” (2019, 19 citations) and “On the propulsive performance of a pitching foil with chord-wise flexibility at the high Strouhal number” (2018, 16 citations), further demonstrate his systematic exploration of how kinematic and structural parameters influence efficiency. Yan’s research is essential for students and engineers seeking to advance unsteady propulsion theory and practical applications in marine robotics.