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The Ground Effect in Anguilliform Swimming.

Uchenna E Ogunka1, Mohsen Daghooghi1,2, Amir M Akbarzadeh1

  • 1J. Mike Walker '66 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA.

Biomimetics (Basel, Switzerland)
|March 7, 2020
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Swimming near the ground offers no hydrodynamic benefits for anguilliform swimmers like eels in quiescent water. Computational fluid dynamics simulations show no improvement in speed or efficiency when swimming close to the seabed.

Keywords:
fish locomotion, eel swimming, ground effect, self-propelled, simulation

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Area of Science:

  • Fluid Dynamics
  • Biomechanics
  • Hydrodynamics

Background:

  • Anguilliform swimmers, including eels and lampreys, often swim close to the seabed.
  • This proximity has been hypothesized to provide hydrodynamic advantages.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the hydrodynamic benefits of swimming near the ground for anguilliform swimmers.
  • To determine if ground proximity affects swimming performance metrics like speed, power, and efficiency.

Main Methods:

  • Two large-eddy simulations (LES) of a self-propelled anguilliform swimmer were conducted.
  • Simulations compared free swimming (far from ground) with near-ground swimming (0.04 L gap).
  • Both simulations started from rest in quiescent flow and reached steady swimming conditions.

Main Results:

  • No significant differences were observed in speed, power consumption, efficiency, or wake structure between free and near-ground swimming.
  • The interaction of the swimmer's wake with the ground did not enhance swimming performance in quiescent flow.
  • A small gap (0.04 L) between the swimmer and the ground did not yield performance benefits.

Conclusions:

  • Swimming near the ground does not improve the hydrodynamic performance of anguilliform swimmers in the absence of incoming flow.
  • Potential benefits of near-ground swimming might exist only when there is an incoming flow, due to lower velocities near the ground.