title: Development of a vortex generator to perturb fish locomotion.
abstract: Knowledge about the stiffness of fish fins, and whether stiffness is modulated during swimming, is important for understanding the mechanics of a fin's force production. However, the mechanical properties of fins have not been studied during natural swimming, in part because of a lack of instrumentation. To remedy this, a vortex generator was developed that produces traveling vortices of adjustable strength which can be used to perturb the fins of swimming fish. Experiments were conducted to understand how the generator's settings affected the resulting vortex rings. A variety of vortices (14-32 mm diameter traveling at 371-2155 mm s-1) were produced that elicited adequate responses from the fish fins to help us to understand the fin's mechanical properties at various swimming speeds (0-350 mm s-1).
authors.affiliation: Drexel University, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics, 3141 Chestnut Street, Randell 115, MEM Department, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA deeksha.seth@drexel.edu.
authors.forename: Deeksha
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-4297-0286
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Seth
authors.affiliation: New Jersey Institute of Technology, Department of Biological Sciences, University Heights, Newark, NJ 07102, USA.
authors.forename: Brooke E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Flammang
authors.affiliation: Harvard University, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Museum of Comparative Zoology Laboratory, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
authors.forename: George V
authors.initials: GV
authors.lastname: Lauder
authors.affiliation: Drexel University, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics, 3141 Chestnut Street, Randell 115, MEM Department, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
authors.forename: James L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Tangorra
mesh_terms: D058500:Animal Fins / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D004548:Elasticity; D004867:Equipment Design; D005399:Fishes / Q000502:physiology*; D013550:Swimming; D015046:Zoology / Q000295:instrumentation
keywords: Bluegill sunfish; Fish swimming; Mechanical properties; Perturbation; Stiffness; Vortex ring