On the fish-like swimming of linked bodies with and without skin

TL;DR

This study models fish-like swimming of linked rigid bodies with elastic skin in fluid, showing skin enhances speed and reduces energy use, using a novel SPH-based simulation method.

Contribution

Introduces a new SPH simulation framework for linked bodies with elastic skin, capturing fluid-structure interactions and demonstrating performance improvements.

Findings

Bodies with skin swim ~13% faster and use less energy.

Different size configurations increase speed by ~39%.

The method is robust and applicable to various shapes and fluid conditions.

Abstract

In this paper we study the two dimensional motion of three linked rigid bodies moving through a fluid. The bodies change their orientation relative to each other in a way which mimics the swimming of fish. In contrast to previous simulations the bodies are connected by an elastic skin. The skin responds to the movement of the bodies and the pressure of the fluid and alters the flow around the bodies. In particular it prevents fluid moving between them. The system of bodies and skin is similar in appearance to a swimming leech or tadpole depending on the relative size of the bodies. We simulate the system using SPH, with three types of particles: liquid particles, boundary force particles determining the surface of the rigid bodies, and skin particles defining the elastic skin. The latter interact with each other, and with the boundary force particles to which they are anchored, by linear spring forces. The boundary force particles and the skin particles interact with the fluid particles by pair forces which are similar to the forces used in the Immersed Boundary method. The algorithm is based on a Lagrangian, and the equations of motion conserve linear momentum exactly and angular momentum very accurately. We compare the motion of rigid bodies with and without skin keeping the total mass of the bodies plus skin fixed. When the ellipses are identical, and the forward gait is used, the bodies swim ~13% faster when they are connected by skin, and they require less energy. When the ellipses have different sizes, with the front ellipse largest, they travel ~39% faster and use less energy. The algorithm is simple and robust and can be applied to bodies of arbitrary shape and in domains which include free surfaces and stratified fluids.