A Computational Fluid Dynamics Study of Force Generation by Bio-Inspired Continuous Undulating Fins

The undulating fin is an excellent propulsion model for better performance of underwater vehicles compared to conventional robots, thanks to the rich locomotor capacities and high efficiency at low speed. The aim of this paper is to present the hydrodynamics and computational simulation to analyze the force generated by the biomimetic continuous undulating fins. The two-dimensional undulating fins inspired by cuttlefish hydrodynamics are investigated via numerical simulation. The numerically simulated pressure and velocity distributed on the undulating fin are calculated to compute the force generated by undulation. Furthermore, the effects of kinematic parameters, including undulating amplitude, frequency, wavelength, and fin thickness, are conducted to reveal the dynamics of force. By further comparative analysis of the influence of undulatory fin factors, the results obtained may have instructional significance for the bionic propulsion design.