Can added-mass variation act as a thrust force?

Conference paper (2017)

Authors

Francesco Giorgio-Serchi University of Southampton
Gabriel D. Weymouth University of Southampton
Affiliation
External organisation
More Info
expand_more

Published Date

2017

Language

English

Reuse Rights

Other than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download, forward or distribute the text or part of it, without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license such as Creative Commons.

Affiliation

External organisation

Abstract

Previous studies have demonstrated that added-mass variation can play a significant role on thrust generation. In this respect, a simplified mechanical system such as an aquatic shape-changing linear oscillator lends itself to this study because it allows to segregate the contribution of added-mass variation from other terms. We present the design of an experimental apparatus which highlights the capability of a deformable oscillator to drive sustained resonance by exploiting the thrust produced by shape-change alone. These results will have significant implications in aquatic propulsion and in the design of deformable, self-propelled underwater vehicles.