Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 6, 2025

Parallel-plate Flow Chamber and Continuous Flow Circuit to Evaluate Endothelial Progenitor Cells under Laminar Flow Shear Stress
Published on: January 17, 2012
A Numerical Study of Flow Past a Wall-Mounted Dolphin Dorsal Fin at Low Reynolds Numbers
Zhonglu Lin1,2, Ankang Gao3, Yu Zhang1,2
1Key Laboratory of Underwater Acoustic Communication and Marine Information Technology of the Ministry of Education, College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China.
Abstract:
Dolphin swimming has been a captivating subject, yet the dorsal fin's hydrodynamics remain underexplored. In this study, we conducted three-dimensional simulations of flow around a wall-mounted dolphin dorsal fin derived from a real dolphin scan. The NEK5000 (spectral element method) was employed with a second-order hex20 mesh to ensure high simulation accuracy and efficiency. A total of 13 cases were simulated, covering angles of attack (AoAs) ranging from 0° to 60° and Reynolds numbers (Re) between 691 and 2000. Our results show that both drag and lift increase significantly with the AoA. Almost no vortex was observed at AoA=0°, whereas complex vortex structures emerged for AoA≥30°, including half-horseshoe, hairpin, arch, and wake vortices. This study offers insights that can inform the design of next-generation underwater robots, heat exchangers, and submarine sails.
More Related Videos
06:20Flapping Soft Fin Deformation Modeling using Planar Laser-Induced Fluorescence Imaging
Published on: April 28, 2022
11:14A Microfluidic System with Surface Patterning for Investigating Cavitation Bubble(s)–Cell Interaction and the Resultant Bioeffects at the Single-cell Level
Published on: January 10, 2017
Related Concept Videos
Poiseuille's Law and Reynolds Number
Typical Model Studies
Dimensionless Groups in Fluid Mechanics
General External Flow Characteristics
The Buckingham Pi Theorem
Laminar Flow: Problem Solving