Fluid-structure coupled analytical model for oscillatory fish-like propulsion

Abstract

In this paper, a two-way hydroelastic model is developed for the evaluation of biomimetic propulsion of the oscillatory caudal fin of a fish-like robot. The model is able to give a fully analytical formulation of the coupling coefficients on which the propulsion is based (i.e., added mass, damping, stiffness and vorticity). Its promising results are evaluated both in terms of computational speed gain and by comparison with known semi-empirical and analytical models, numerical and experimental studies.