A study on the hydrodynamic performance of manta ray biomimetic glider under unconstrained six-DOF motion

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 15; no. 11; p. e0241677
• Main Authors: Cai, Wen-Hao, Zhan, Jie-Min, Luo, Ying-Ying
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 10.11.2020; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: 3-D printers; Aircraft; Analysis; Angle of attack; Behavior; Biology and Life Sciences; Biomimetics; Biomimetics - methods; Blended-Wing-Body aircraft; Body length; Center of mass; Computer Simulation; Degrees of freedom (Mechanics); Design; Engineering and Technology; Experiments; Finite element method; Gliders; Gliding; Hydrodynamics; Laboratory experiments; Mathematical models; Mechanics; Movement; Numerical simulations; Physical Sciences; Physiological aspects; Rays (Fishes); Research and Analysis Methods; Simulation; Temperature; Velocity; China
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0241677

A manta ray biomimetic glider is designed and studied with both laboratory experiments and numerical simulations with a new dynamic update method called the motion-based zonal mesh update method (MBZMU method) to reveal its hydrodynamic performance. Regarding the experimental study, an ejection gliding experiment is conducted for qualitative verification, and a hydrostatic free-fall experiment is conducted to quantitatively verify the reliability of the corresponding numerical simulation. Regarding the numerical simulation, to reduce the trend of nose-up movement and to obtain a long lasting and stable gliding motion, a series of cases with the center of mass offset forward by different distances and different initial angles of attack have been calculated. The results show that the glider will show the optimal gliding performance when the center of mass is 20mm in front of the center of geometry and the initial attack angle range lies between A 0 = -5° to A 0 = -2.5° at the same time. The optimal gliding distance can reach six times its body length under these circumstances. Furthermore, the stability of the glider is explained from the perspective of Blended-Wing-Body (BWB) configuration.