Analysis of motion of batoid fins for thrust generation by using fluidstructure interaction method

Recently, the development of bio-mimetic underwater vehicles that can emulate the characteristic movements of marine fish and mammals has attracted considerable attention. In this study, the motion of the batoid (i.e., cownose ray) fin that facilitates excellent cruising and maneuvering during underwater movement has been studied. The velocity achieved and distance covered with each fin movement are numerically studied. A fluid-structure interaction method is used to perform 3D time-dependent numerical analysis, wherein an adaptive mesh is employed to account for the large deformation of a fin interacting with a fluid. The results of a preliminary study show that the thrust of a ray fin is highly dependent on the frequency. Further, once the fin amplitude required for generating a given thrust is evaluated for the conditions experienced by an actual ray, the frequency and amplitude values for achieving better thrust are determined.