Efficient cruising for swimming and flying animals is dictated by fluid drag Article Swipe
Related Concepts
Strouhal number
Drag
Propulsive efficiency
Mechanics
Reynolds number
Range (aeronautics)
Physics
Acoustics
Propulsion
Aerospace engineering
Engineering
Turbulence
Daniel Floryan
,
Tyler Van Buren
,
Alexander J. Smits
·
YOU?
·
· 2018
· Open Access
·
· DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1805941115
· OA: W2808352645
YOU?
·
· 2018
· Open Access
·
· DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1805941115
· OA: W2808352645
Significance Almost 30 y ago, researchers discovered that a great variety of efficient swimmers cruise in a narrow range of Strouhal numbers, a dimensionless number describing the kinematics of swimming. Almost 15 y later, separate researchers discovered that fliers (bats, birds, and insects) also cruise in the same narrow range of Strouhal numbers. Attendant experiments on flapping airfoils have shown that this narrow range of Strouhal numbers gives rise to the most efficient kinematics. Here, we explain why this range of Strouhal numbers is the most efficient.
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