Enhanced hydrodynamic performance of flexible fins using macro fiber composite actuators

Abstract

Recent studies on the role of body flexibility in propulsion suggest that fish have the ability to control the shape or modulate the stiffness of the fins for optimized performance. Inspired by nature's ability to modulate stiffness and shape for different operating conditions, this paper investigates active control of flapping foils for thrust tailoring using Macro Fiber Composites (MFCs). A coupled piezohydroelastic model has been developed to predict the propulsive performance of an actively deforming fin. The effect of important parameters such as oscillation frequency, flexibility of the fin, applied voltage and the phase difference between applied voltage and heaving on propulsive performance are studied and reported. It is observed that distributed actuation along fin produces maximum performance through proper selection of the phase difference between heaving and voltage. The optimal phase for lower values of fin stiffness is approximately 90° and it approaches 0° for higher stiffness values. Experiments performed to determine the effect of active control using MFCs validate the theoretical results.