In this paper, the design of a bioinspired jellyfish propulsion system is introduced. A cantilever beam with aluminum material is used for a simple demonstration of the concept, MFC (macro fiber composite) actuator is used to generate hydrodynamic thrust by exciting aluminum beam in water. Dynamic model of a cantilever beam with MFC actuator is developed. Hydrodynamic thrust is calculated based on elementary fluid mechanics principle. Both simulation and experiment demonstrated the feasibility of proposed concept. The simulation indicates that the thrust is maximized when the cantilever beam is excited at resonance. It is also experimentally validated using a prototype of the beam thrust system. Various thicknesses and lengths of the aluminum beam are considered for efficient propulsion of the system. Hydrodynamic thrust from the vibration motion with different excitation frequencies is measured and compared with simulation results. In addition, two different wave forms, sinusoidal and square waves, are tested to excite the beam. It is found that square wave consistently produces larger thrust compared to sinusoidal wave. Future study will include power electronics for increased energy savings and longer mission duration as well as optimized shape for maximum thrust.
Bioinspired jellyfish locomotion using macro fiber composites for autonomous underwater vehicles
Die Realisierung einer biologisch inspirierten Quallenbewegung mit faserverstärkten Verbundwerkstoffen für autonome Unterwasserfahrzeuge
2009
8 Seiten, 10 Bilder, 2 Tabellen, 15 Quellen
Conference paper
English
Novel autonomous underwater vehicle based upon jellyfish locomotion
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