Vortex dynamics in the wake of a mechanical fish

Abstract

This study focuses on the three-dimensional flow around a mechanical fish model, which reproduces the typical undulatory body and fin motion of a carangiform swimmer. The mechanical model consists of a flexible skeleton embedded in a soft transparent silicone body, which is connected with two cams to a flapping and bending hinge generating a traveling wave motion with increasing amplitude from anterior to posterior, extending to a combined heaving and pitching motion at the fin. The model is submerged in a water tank and towed at the characteristic swimming speed for the neutral swimming mode at U/V = 1. The method of Scanning Particle Image Velocimetry was used to analyze the three-dimensional time-dependent flow field in the axial and saggital planes. The results confirm the earlier observations that the wake develops into a chain of vortex rings which travel sidewards perpendicular to the swimming direction. However, instead of one single vortex shed at each tail beat half-cycle we observed a pair of two vortex rings being shed. Each pair consists of a larger main vortex ring corresponding to the tail beat start-stop vortex, while the second vortex ring is due to the body bending motion. The existence of the second vortex reflects the role of the body in undulatory swimming. A simplified model of the fish body comparing it to a plate with a hinged flap demonstrates the link between the sequence of kinematics and vortex shedding.