Pitching foil propulsion performance decays near the free surface

A series of experiments reveal the non-linear relationship between the propulsive performance of a pitching foil and its distance to the free surface. Efficiency dropped more than a 40% when the foil was placed at a distance of approximately 5 to 10% of the span of the system, as a consequence of a large decrease in thrust and a large increase in power, both clearly linked to wake formation.

You can download the article: in: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0029801823000471

#BioInspiredPropulsion #Wakes #FluidMechanics #Fluid-StructureInteraction