CFD Analysis of Biologically- -Inspired Marine Propulsors

摘要

In the present work, the design and testing of two propulsion mechanisms which emulate fish swimming are presented. The motivation comes from the high efficiency and maneuverality that fish demonstrate over conventional rotary propellers. In order to know the fluid flow pattern in detail, a 3D CFD model was developed. Details of the velocity and pressure fields were obtained, as well as the hydrodynamic forces, cruising velocity, power and efficiency. The results obtained using this CFD model were validated with the experimental prototypes, obtaining a reasonable agreement. Once validated, the CFD model was used to analyze several configurations of the propelling fin, obtaining that thunniform swimming mode is the most efficient.%U priloženom se radu prikazuje projektiranje i testiranje dvaju propulzijskih mehanizma koji oponašaju plivanje riba. Poticaj za ovo istraživanje potekao je od spoznaje o visokoj učinkovitosti i upravljivosti koju pokazuju ribe u odnosu na uobičajene rotirajuće propulzore. U cilju detaljnog upoznavanja slike strujanja razvijen je 3D CFD model. Dobiveni su detaljni podaci o poljima brzina i tlakova kao i hidrodinamičke sile, brzina krstarenja, snaga i učinkovitost. Rezultati dobiveni CFD modelom se dobro slažu s rezultatima sa pokusnim prototipovima. Ovako provjereni CFD model je potom iskorišten za analize nekoliko konfiguracija propulzijskih peraja pri čemu se pokazalo da je način plivanja tuna najučinkovitiji.