Influence of Rigid/Deformable Foil Shape on the Hydrodynamic Loads and Performance

Many swimming fishes can be considered as underwater bio vehicles with high hydrodynamicefficiency and performance, such as low resistance, high speed, and good maneuverability. The basissource of their propulsion forces is the control of vortices produced by their oscillating bodies andfins. Inspired by fish, the thrust-producing harmonically oscillating foils have been studiedextensively through both experimental and numerical techniques. In the present work, various twodimensional(2D) flapping foils are studied with focus on the influence of rigid and deformable fishlikeprofiles on the hydrodynamic loads and performance. Herein, a morphing strategy of the foil ispursued to combine the advantages of the rigid foils with different shapes, that is, to maximize thethrust and efficiency while minimizing the required mean input power during pitching motion.