research: Conclusions
Conclusions and Future Work
At this point, the following conclusions can be made about the fluid dynamics of manta ray motion:
The experimental apparatus produces thrust at some flow conditions.
The thrust production is a result of the dynamics of the manta ray and is highly dependent on the Strouhal number. The Strouhal number determines the nature of the vortex interactions; some vortex patterns show that the manta ray produces thrust, others drag.
The techniques of evaluating the experimental flow including PIV and dye injection are effective techniques for illustrating the nature of the flow field.
The computational analysis confirmed the experimental result that the manta ray ejects two jets of thrust with each flapping cycle. Also, the magnitude of the thrust is dependent on the Strouhal number.
There is still much work to be done before a complete understanding of the dynamics can be attained:
A complete map of thrust against all of the relevant non-dimensional parameters must be derived.
The efficiency of the motion should be evaluated; efficiency will be a strong driver for any future vehicle design.
Enhanced flow visualization is needed to derive an understanding of the complete 3-dimensional vortex structures in the wake of the manta ray.