Free swimming of a squid-inspired axisymmetric system through jet propulsion

Abstract

An axisymmetric fluid-structure interaction model based on the immersed-boundary approach is developed to study the self-propelled locomotion of a squid-inspired swimmer in relatively low Reynolds numbers (). Through cyclic deformation, the swimmer generates intermittent jet flow, which, together with the added-mass effect associated with the body deformation, provides thrust. Through a control volume analysis we are able to determine the jet-related thrust. By adding it to the added-mass-related thrust we separate the net thrust on the body from the drag effect due to forward motion, so that the propulsion efficiency in free swimming is found. This numerical algorithm and thrust–drag decomposition method are used to study the dynamics of the bio-inspired locomotion system in different conditions, whereby the performance is characterized by the aforementioned propulsion efficiency as well as the conventionally defined cost of transport.