Rather than drafting, vortex capture dictates efficiency in three-hydrofoil schools

TL;DR

This study investigates how vortex interactions in a three-hydrofoil school enhance collective thrust and efficiency, emphasizing the importance of optimal positioning and wake dynamics.

Contribution

It reveals that vortex-body interactions and optimal spatial phase significantly improve performance, challenging traditional drafting concepts in oscillatory swimmer wakes.

Findings

School of three hydrofoils achieves 58% higher thrust and 24% higher efficiency than isolated foils.

Maximum benefits occur when the follower is directly in the vortex wake of the leader.

Wake breakdown is not observed within three chord lengths downstream, supporting sustained performance benefits.

Abstract

Three-dimensional experiments are presented on a school of three pitching hydrofoils. Two side-by-side leader foils maintain the same relative positions while the location of a third follower foil is varied. Force and flow measurements detail the mechanisms that drive the school to achieve collective thrust and efficiency that are 58% and 24% higher than isolated foils, respectively. Traditional drafting involves positioning yourself in the wake of an upstream object. In wakes with a net momentum deficit, drafting reduces drag by lowering oncoming flow speed. By contrast, wakes from oscillatory swimmers feature strong momentum surplus regions, which increases drag by increasing the oncoming flow. Despite that, our results show that the best performance benefits occur for compact schools where the follower is directly in the vortex wake of a leader, whereas regions of reduced mean flow do not improve performance. The thrust and efficiency benefits are shown to be driven by vortex-body interactions that increase the thrust and efficiency of the follower and by body-to-body upstream interactions that reduce the power of the leaders. There is an optimal spatial phase to maximize the thrust and efficiency of the follower that depends upon the actual wake wavelength rather than the estimated wavelength used in previous literature. Moreover, wake breakdown, and its associated elimination of vortex-body performance benefits, is not observed within at least three chord lengths downstream of the leaders. Lastly, measurements of the cross-stream stability of the downstream foil indicate that compact, high-performance formations may require active control strategies in order to maintain their organization and maximise the hydrodynamic benefits of schooling.