Design and CFD analysis for a biomimetic dolphin-like underwater glider

This paper presents an innovative design concept for a biomimetic dolphin-like underwater glider. As an excellent combination, it offers the advantages of both robotic dolphins and underwater gliders to realize high-maneuverability, highspeed and long-distance motions. As the first step, a skilled and simple dolphin-like prototype with only gliding capability is developed. The hydrodynamic analysis in the glider using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) method is executed to explore the key hydrodynamic coefficients of dolphin-like glider including lift, drag and pitching moment, and also to analyze the dynamic and static pressure distribution. Finally, experimental results have shown that the dolphin-like glider could successfully glide depending on the pitching torques only from buoyancy-driven system and controllable fins without traditional internal movable masses.