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Experimental and Numerical Study of Penguin Mode Flapping Foil Propulsion System for Ships

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Abstract

The use of biomimetic tandem flapping foils for ships and underwater vehicles is considered as a unique and interesting concept in the area of marine propulsion. The flapping wings can be used as a thrust producing, stabilizer and control devices which has both propulsion and maneuvering applications for marine vehicles. In the present study, the hydrodynamic performance of a pair of flexible flapping foils resembling penguin flippers is studied. A ship model of 3 m in length is fitted with a pair of counter flapping foils at its bottom mid-ship region. Model tests are carried out in a towing tank to estimate the propulsive performance of flapping foils in bollard and self propulsion modes. The same tests are performed in a numerical environment using a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software. The numerical and experimental results show reasonably good agreement in both bollard pull and self propulsion trials. The numerical studies are carried out on flexible flapping hydrofoil in unsteady conditions using moving unstructured grids. The efficiency and force coefficients of the flexible flapping foils are determined and presented as a function of Strouhal number.

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Abbreviations

α:

Instantaneous angle of attack

α0:

Maximum angle of attack

ẏ :

Instantaneous sway velocity

η :

Efficiency

Ṗ:

Average power coefficient

(CX):

Average thrust coefficient

F̄x:

Average thrust

P̄:

Average power

D :

Drag force

R:

Resultant force

μ:

Dynamic viscosity of fluid

ω:

Circular flapping frequency

Φ:

Phase difference between sway and yaw

ψ:

Instantaneous yaw angle

ψ 0 :

Yaw amplitude

ρ:

Fluid density

(x, y):

Effective flexible motion coordinates of centerline

φ:

Conservative scalar quantity

A:

Characteristic width of flapping hydrofoil

y 0 :

Sway amplitude

c:

Chord length of the hydrofoil

CX, CY:

Force coefficients corresponding to FX, FY

CM:

Moment coefficient

f:

Flapping frequency

FX, FY:

Forces in x and y directions

L:

Lift force

M:

Moment due to lift and drag forces

P:

Power

p:

Pressure

Re:

Reynolds number

s:

Span of the hydrofoil

St:

Strouhal number

t:

Time

t′:

Non-dimensional time

T:

Flapping period

U:

Frees stream velocity

V:

Control volume

y:

Instantaneous sway position

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ocean Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, 600036, India

    Naga Praveen Babu Mannam, Parameswaran Krishnankutty & Harikrishnan Vijayakumaran

  2. Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77840, USA

    Richards Chizhuthanickel Sunny

Authors
  1. Naga Praveen Babu Mannam
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  2. Parameswaran Krishnankutty
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  3. Harikrishnan Vijayakumaran
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  4. Richards Chizhuthanickel Sunny
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Correspondence to Naga Praveen Babu Mannam.

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Mannam, N.P.B., Krishnankutty, P., Vijayakumaran, H. et al. Experimental and Numerical Study of Penguin Mode Flapping Foil Propulsion System for Ships. J Bionic Eng 14, 770–780 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1016/S1672-6529(16)60442-0

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