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Highlights • We study harmonic 3D oscillations of a shape-morphing cantilever in a viscous fluid. • The beam cross section deforms with prescribed periodic curvature during vibrations. • We use oscillatory Stokeslets methods to study lift, thrust, and power dissipation. • Hydrodynamic forces and power can be modulated by varying the imposed curvature. • Propulsion performance can be maximized for an optimal shape-morphing strategy. Graphical abstract Abstract In this paper, we investigate flexural vibrations of a thin sharp-edged cantilever beam submerged in a quiescent, Newtonian, incompressible, viscous fluid. We study the three-dimensional fluid–structure interaction problem in the presence of shape-morphing deformation of the beam cross section, imposed by specifying a periodic chordwise maximum curvature along the axis of the structure, coupled with the flexural motion of the beam occurring along a structural mode. This actuation strategy, resulting into anticlastic curvature for the beam, is investigated as a possible means to actively control fluid–structure interaction mechanisms by modifying the hydrodynamic interactions in the vicinity of the submerged structure. We focus on the linear vibration problem for the beam, whereby the fluid flow is well described by three-dimensional unsteady Stokes hydrodynamics. Using the hypothesis of imposed harmonic motion for the submerged structure, we solve the linear hydrodynamics problem in the frequency domain by employing a semianalytical method based on oscillating Stokeslets. The resulting integral equations are solved via a boundary element technique and our results are validated against findings from the literature. The efficacy of the proposed shape-morphing strategy on the propulsion performance is assessed by studying thrust production, lift forces, and hydrodynamic power dissipation for a range of prescribed dynamic and geometric conditions, including vibration frequency, amplitude of imposed chordwise curvature, and beam aspect ratio. Our results indicate that thrust forces and power dissipation can be simultaneously modulated via the shape-morphing strategy. We theoretically predict and numerically confirm the existence of extremal points that result into an optimal compromise between thrust forces and power dissipation. Such optimal solutions are of direct interest to the design of cantilever-based underwater biomimetic propulsion systems, where it is crucial to control and modulate oscillation quality factors, hydrodynamic forces, and power losses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we consider nonlinear oscillations of a shape-morphing plate submerged in a quiescent, Newtonian, viscous fluid. We investigate the two-dimensional problem arising from two prescribed concurrent periodic motions of the plate: a rigid oscillation along its transverse direction coupled to a shape-morphing deformation to an arc of a circle with prescribed maximum curvature. As opposed to existing literature concerned with passive flexible structures, this study focuses on actively prescribed deformations of the structure as a means to manipulate the vortex-shedding and convection patterns responsible for hydrodynamic forces and power dissipation during underwater oscillations. We elucidate the potential of the proposed shape-morphing strategy in regulating the added mass and damping effects along with the hydrodynamic power dissipation both in the linear and nonlinear hydrodynamic regime, by utilizing a linear boundary integral formulation as well as computational fluid dynamics simulations. Results show the possibility of minimizing the hydrodynamic power dissipation for optimal values of the imposed curvature, along with significant reduction of the hydrodynamic forces. A simplified semianalytical argument relates these novel effects to specific geometric properties of the plate motion. Findings from this study are directly relevant to cantilever-based sensing and actuation systems operating in fluids, where control and modulation of oscillation quality factors, hydrodynamic forces, and power losses is beneficial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study the problem of harmonic oscillations of a flanged lamina in a quiescent Newtonian incompressible viscous fluid. We conduct a comprehensive fluid–structure interaction investigation with the goal of assessing the effect of the presence of the flanges on the added mass and hydrodynamic damping experienced by the oscillating solid. We determine the complex nonlinear hydrodynamic function incorporating these effects via its real and imaginary parts, respectively, and its dependence on three nondimensional parameters that govern the flow evolution. We further investigate in detail the flow physics and the effects of nonlinearities on vortex shedding, convection, and diffusion in the vicinity of the oscillating structure. We find that the added mass effect is relatively independent of the oscillation amplitude and increases with the flange size. On the other hand, the hydrodynamic damping effect is remarkably affected by the interplay of geometry and dynamic parameters resulting into a peculiar non-monotonic behavior. We show the existence of a minimum in the hydrodynamic damping which can be attained via specific control of vortex–structure interaction dynamics and discuss its properties and significance from a physical perspective through analysis of the relevant flow fields. This novel finding has potential application for damping reduction in elastic systems where reduction of energy losses and increase of oscillation quality factor are desired. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]