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Self-propulsion of flapping bodies in viscous fluids: Recent advances and perspectives

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Abstract

Flapping-powered propulsion is used by many animals to locomote through air or water. Here we review recent experimental and numerical studies on self-propelled mechanical systems powered by a flapping motion. These studies improve our understanding of the mutual interaction between actively flapping bodies and surrounding fluids. The results obtained in these works provide not only new insights into biolocomotion but also useful information for the biomimetic design of artificial flyers and swimmers.

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Acknowledgments

The project was supported by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grants KJCX-SW-L08, KJCX3-SYW-S01) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grants 11021262, 11023001, 11232011, 11372331).

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  1. The State Key Laboratory of Nonlinear Mechanics (LNM), Institute of Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China

    Shizhao Wang, Guowei He & Xing Zhang

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  1. Shizhao Wang
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Wang, S., He, G. & Zhang, X. Self-propulsion of flapping bodies in viscous fluids: Recent advances and perspectives. Acta Mech. Sin. 32, 980–990 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10409-016-0578-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10409-016-0578-y

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