Published In
Bioinspiration & Biomimetics
Document Type
Post-Print
Publication Date
3-27-2026
Subjects
Wakes (Aerodynamics), Wind turbines -- Aerodynamics
Abstract
Flow over a seal whisker-inspired undulated cylinder at swept back angles is computationally investigated, comparing the vortex shedding, forces, and wake characteristics to those of an equivalent smooth geometry. Numerous prior studies have demonstrated that undulated cylinders can reduce mean drag and unsteady lift oscillations; however, none have isolated the effects of the sweep angle resulting from whisker positioning in flow. Inspired by the active control seals exert over their whiskers while navigating and sensing in unsteady aquatic environments, this study investigates how such orientation influences the hydrodynamic performance of the geometry. Simulations are performed of flow across a rigid, infinite-span, undulated cylinder at sweep angles from 0 to 60° and at Reynolds numbers of 250 and 500. At zero sweep, the undulated cylinder breaks up coherent two-dimensional vortices, having the effect of reducing drag by 11.4% and root mean square lift by 90.8% compared to a smooth elliptical cylinder. With sweep added, the prominence of spanwise vortex breakup and force suppression is reduced, approximating flow over smooth ellipse geometry as sweep increases. At low sweep angles of 15 and 30 degrees, lift is still suppressed by 72.4% and 47.6% while drag results in a smaller difference of 5.7 and 1.6% reduction from a smooth ellipse. These results reinforce that sweep angle is a significant parameter both mechanically and biologically in the flow physics of whisker-inspired undulated geometries.
Rights
Copyright (c) 2026 The Authors
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Locate the Document
10.1088/1748-3190/ae585e
DOI
10.1088/1748-3190/ae585e
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/44578
Publisher
IOP Publishing
Citation Details
Dunt, T., Murphy, C. T., Fercak, O., Cal, R. B., & Franck, J. A. (2026). Sweep Angle Effects of Flow Over a Seal Whisker-Inspired Undulated Cylinder. Bioinspiration & Biomimetics.
Description
This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published as (2026). Sweep Angle Effects of Flow Over a Seal Whisker-Inspired Undulated Cylinder. Bioinspiration & Biomimetics.