2A1-C06 Thrust characteristics of the oscillating fin propulsors in a side-by-side arrangement

Two oscillating fin propulsors connected in parallel and staggered was investigated to aim an environment friendly and energy saving propulsor. In this study, as a preliminary experiment, swimming speed of the staggered arranged small fish-like toy robots "robofish" was investigated, and it was confirmed the staggered arranged robofish increases swimming speed for 13%. Then, thrust characteristics of the palm-sized fin propulsor, which two fin propulsors were connected in parallel and staggered, were investigated. In addition, two dimensional flow structures behind the fin propulsors were observed to reveal dominant flow patterns. As the result, thrust force of the staggered arranged fin propulsor was improved for 7% compared with the parallel setting. Contracted flow pattern passes from the first fin to second fin was obtained by PIV measurement.