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Bristled shark skin: a microgeometry for boundary layer control?

A W Lang1, P Motta, P Hidalgo

  • 1Aerospace Engineering & Mechanics Department, University of Alabama, Box 870280, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487, USA. alang@eng.ua.edu

Bioinspiration & Biomimetics
|October 8, 2008
PubMed
Summary

Fast-swimming sharks may control boundary layers using bristling scales. This creates vortices and increases flow velocity, potentially delaying drag and improving swimming efficiency.

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