Abstract :

The exceptional hydrodynamic qualities of the hydrofoil have made it a popular choice for underwater vehicles. Rigid hydrofoil research is well-established at this time, but flexible hydrofoils, such as the caudal fin, have not yet been given the attention they deserve. The fish was considered the bionic item in this study. Then, the kinematics model was proposed to account for the fish's swimming motion. To replicate this sine curve motion while swimming, a fin-peduncle propulsion system was developed using a kinematics model. Matlab was used to optimize the propulsion mechanism, which allowed for a less discrepancy between the actual motion trajectory and the fin-peduncle propulsion mechanism's output curve. Moreover, the motion phase angles of the movable articulations are tuned to lessen the drag and increase the effectiveness of the propulsion system. Lastly, a fluid-solid coupling approach based on Fluent is used to model the fish-like oscillation of a hydrofoil. It was shown tha