Hydrodynamics of metachronal paddling: effects of varying Reynolds number and phase lag.

ABSTRACT: Negatively buoyant freely swimming crustaceans such as krill must generate downward momentum in order to maintain their position in the water column. These animals use a drag-based propulsion strategy, where pairs of closely spaced swimming limbs are oscillated rhythmically from the tail to head. Each pair is oscillated with a phase delay relative to the neighbouring pair, resulting in a metachronal wave travelling in the direction of animal motion. It remains unclear how oscillations of limbs in the horizontal plane can generate vertical momentum. Using particle image velocimetry measurements on a robotic model, we observed that metachronal paddling with non-zero phase lag created geometries of adjacent paddles that promote the formation of counter-rotating vortices. The interaction of th

SUBMITTER: Ford MP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6837200 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature