Passive Propulsion in Vortex Wakes
Melike Kurt (Maritime Engineering), Nick Townsend (Maritime Engineering) and Gabriel Weymouth (Technical University Delft)
The use of multi propulsor surfaces with different control gaits is ubiquitous amongst fish species. Fish decrease their muscle activity and harvest energy through passive interactions with vortex wakes and achieve propulsion. A follow-up experiment with a dead fish in a cylinder’s wake has shown that the fish can overcome its own drag and can propel itself forward. Inspired by these two studies, we propose a tandem oscillatory foil system where a foil is free to oscillate within the wake of an actively controlled oscillatory foil located downstream. In this system, the passive foil can harvest energy from the incoming vortex wake and contribute to the power-efficiency with no power penalty to the system. It can also generate different drag profiles to enable rapid manoeuvring. However, the stability characteristics combined with the related flow physics have not been understood well to develop a flow-informed control system. This project aims to fill this knowledge gap, using experimental and numerical approaches to characterize stable and unstable operation envelopes and performance metrics as the passive foil interacts with different incoming vortex wakes.
Eligibility: UK rates (subject to fund availability)
Start date: October 2023 (subject to fund availability)
Application deadline: August 2023
CIVIL, MARITIME
AND ENVIRONMENTAL
ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
University of Southampton
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University of Southampton
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Southampton
SO17 1BJ
United Kingdom
CIVIL, MARITIME
AND ENVIRONMENTAL
ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
University of Southampton
Explore our website:
Contact us:
+44(0)23 8059 5000
+44(0)23 8059 3131
University of Southampton
University Road
Southampton
SO17 1BJ
United Kingdom
© 2020 Civil, Maritime and Environmental Engineering Department
© 2020 Civil, Maritime and Environmental Engineering Department