Analysis And Experimental Study Of Hydrofoil Propulsion Performance

Hydrofoil propulsion method,as a new biomimetic propulsion method is obviously different from the traditional methods of propeller for propulsion,which opens up new ideas for underwater robot.Hydrofoil propulsion method compared to traditional methods is high-speed,high efficiency,low noise,good maneuvering performance and simple shape.It is more suitable for modern underwater robot which is required as high speed,high maneuverability,low energy consumption and low noise.The analysis of hydrofoil propulsion is less than the analysis of the paddling and spraying method.Therefore,the study of hydrofoil propulsion performance for practical application and development is of great significance.This paper builds inertial coordinate system and body coordinate system according to the motion of the hydrofoil,adopting the oscillation amplitude and the Strouhal as the parameters that affecting the propulsion performance of hydrofoil.The changing pattern of the instantaneous thrust,average thrust and propulsion efficiency with parameters are studied theoretically.Through Fluent simulation software,a rigid hydrofoil oscillation model was built.This paper analyzes the hydrofoil performance and fluid surrounding environment pressure in different oscillation parameters by writing UDF user program.This paper also analyzes influence of the deformation of the flexible hydrofoil on propulsion performance.This paper builds hydrofoil propulsion performance test platform,including the design of the mechanical,driving,control and measure system.In addition,the design of flexible hydrofoil model adopts the flexible coefficient as a quantitative measure of the flexibility for hydrofoil.The instantaneous thrust,average thrust and propulsion efficiency is studied by experiment to find out the regular pattern between motion parameters and propulsion performance.