Abstract
Contractile body is an alternative mechanism instead of rotating blade propeller to generate water jet for locomotion. The oscillating motion of the actuator at different frequencies varies the pressure and volume of the pressure chamber in time to draw in and jet out the water at a certain mass flow rate. The aim of this research was to analyze the influence of the actuating frequency of the fluid flow in the pressure chamber of the thruster during this inflation-deflation process. A 70mm × 70mm × 18mm (L × W × T) 2D water jet thruster was fabricated for this purpose. The contractile function was driven using two lateral pneumatic actuators where the fluid flow analysis was focused on the X-Y plane vector. Observation was carried out using a video camera and Matlab image measurement technique to determine the volume of the flowing mass. The result demonstrated that the greater actuating frequency decreases the fluid flow rate and the Reynolds number. This observation shows that the higher frequency would give a higher mass flow rate during water jet generation.
Highlights
Contractile water jet thruster (CWT) is an alternative propulsion method for underwater robot
CWT had been utilized either as main propulsion unit (Yeom et al 2009; Barber et al 2010) or underwater vehicle’s direction guiding unit (Thomas et al 2005). This CWT applies the pressurized water jet to accelerate its body for locomotion
Though intensive research had been carried out to characterize the CWT mechanism, few detail studies were focus on the actuating frequency influence on the internal fluid flow of the CWT
Summary
Contractile water jet thruster (CWT) is an alternative propulsion method for underwater robot. CWT had been utilized either as main propulsion unit (Yeom et al 2009; Barber et al 2010) or underwater vehicle’s direction guiding unit (Thomas et al 2005). This CWT applies the pressurized water jet to accelerate its body for locomotion. Compared to motor driven rotary blade propeller, this CWT uses pressure chamber volume reduction to generate this pressurized water jet (Figure 1). The pressure chamber volume reduction or contraction occurred by applying an amount of force to certain parts of its body. Recurring contraction is required for continuous locomotion, exhibiting the function of actuating frequency. Though intensive research had been carried out to characterize the CWT mechanism, few detail studies were focus on the actuating frequency influence on the internal fluid flow of the CWT
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