Locomotion with flexible propulsors: II. Computational modeling of pectoral fin swimming in sunfish.

This paper describes a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) based investigation of the pectoral fin hydrodynamics of a bluegill sunfish. The pectoral fin of this fish undergoes significant shape-change during its abduction-adduction cycle and the effect of this deformation on the thrust performance remains far from understood. The current study is part of a combined experimental-numerical approach wherein the numerical simulations are being used to examine features and issues that are not easily amenable to the experiments.