Discrete Technology and Production Automation Group, Engineering and Technology Institute Groningen, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Groningen, Groningen, 9747AG, The Netherlands.
Advanced Production Engineering Group, Engineering and Technology Institute Groningen, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Groningen, Groningen, 9747AG, The Netherlands.
Adv Sci (Weinh). 2023 Jan;10(2):e2203062. doi: 10.1002/advs.202203062. Epub 2022 Nov 20.
Seals can detect prey up to 180 m away using only their flow-sensing whiskers. The unique undulating morphology of Phocid seal whiskers reduces vortex-induced vibrations (VIVs), rendering seals highly sensitive to biologically relevant flow stimuli. In this work, digital models of harbor and grey seal whiskers are extracted using 3D scanning and a mathematical framework that accurately recreates their undulating geometry is proposed. Through fluid-structure interaction studies and experimental investigations involving a whisker array mounted on 3D-printed microelectromechanical systems sensors, the vibration characteristics of the whisker array and the interaction between neighboring whiskers in steady flows and fish-wake-like vortices are explained for the first time. Results reveal that the downstream vortices intensity and resulting VIVs are consistently lower for grey than harbor seal whiskers and a smooth cylinder, suggesting that the grey seal whisker geometry can be an ideal template for the biomimetic design of VIV-resistant underwater structures. In addition, neighboring whiskers in an array influence one another by resulting in greater flow vorticity fluctuation and distribution area, thus causing increased vibrations than an isolated whisker, which indicates the possibility of a signal-strengthening effect in whisker arrays.
海豹仅用它们的流感触须就能探测到 180 米外的猎物。Phocid 海豹触须独特的波动形态减少了涡激振动（VIVs），使海豹对生物相关的流动刺激非常敏感。在这项工作中，使用 3D 扫描和一个能够准确再现其波动几何形状的数学框架，提取了港湾海豹和灰海豹触须的数字模型。通过涉及安装在 3D 打印微机电系统传感器上的触须阵列的流固耦合研究和实验研究，首次解释了在稳定流和类鱼尾涡中，触须阵列的振动特性以及相邻触须之间的相互作用。结果表明，与港湾海豹和光滑圆柱相比，灰海豹的触须下游涡旋强度和由此产生的 VIV 始终更低，这表明灰海豹触须的几何形状可以作为抗 VIV 水下结构仿生设计的理想模板。此外，阵列中的相邻触须通过导致更大的流涡度波动和分布区域而相互影响，从而导致比单个触须更大的振动，这表明触须阵列中存在信号增强的可能性。
