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A self-propelled swimming fish model is established, which can reflect the interaction between fish movement, internal force generated by muscle contraction, and the external force provided by fluid. Using finite element immersed boundary method combined with traditional feedback force method, the self-propelled swimming fish is numerically simulated. Firstly, a self-induced vibration of a cantilever beam immersed in a fluid is one of the benchmarks of fluid-structure interaction, which is used to verify the validity of the numerical method. Secondly, start and cruise process of a single swimming fish in a straight-line swimming state is simulated and analysis of the flow characteristics and fish body movement features is done. The results reveal that the fish gain energy from flow field by the conversion of “C” type and “S” type of fish body.

The improved aerodynamic design of a horizontal axis small-scale wind turbine blade is crucial to increasing the efficiency and annual energy production of the turbine. One of the vital stages in aerodynamic design is the selection of the airfoil. Using the existing airfoils for a blade design which results in higher turbine characteristics is tedious. Consequently, this paper provides an optimal design strategy for a horizontal axis small-scale wind turbine blade through the multiobjective optimization of the airfoil using the Nondominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II (NSGA-II). The latter outperforms the other commonly used genetic algorithms (GAs), as well as the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) investigation of the different airfoil types and the wind turbine rotors on the steady or unsteady state aerodynamic performance. An NACA4412 airfoil with higher aerodynamic efficiency is considered as a baseline for the optimization in order to increase the lift coefficient and lift to drag ratio while avoiding excessive variations in the maximum relative thickness and area. The optimized airfoil (NACA4412-OPT) is used as the cross-sectional profile in the design procedure for a novel 1.15 m diameter three-bladed wind turbine rotor at a wind speed of 11.5 m/s, tip speed ratio of 4.65, and pitch angle of 0.2° by the Wilson design method. The two-dimensional analysis demonstrates that the optimized airfoil outperforms the other airfoils yielding the highest lift coefficient and lift to drag ratio, as well as a larger pitch range. The three-dimensional analysis shows that the time-averaged power coefficient value (0.33) of the new wind turbine is almost 26% higher and more stable than that of the original wind turbine while avoiding a high increase of the axial thrust.

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The NACA4415 airfoil was numerically simulated with the help of the Fluent software to analyze its aerodynamic characteristics. Results are acquired as follows: The calculation accuracy of Fluent software is much higher than that of XFOIL software; the calculation result of SST k-ω(sstkw) turbulence model is closest to the experimental value; within a certain range, the larger the Reynolds number is, the larger the lift coefficient and lift-to-drag ratio of the airfoil will be, and the smaller the drag coefficient will be; when the angle of attack is less than the optimal angle of attack, the Reynolds number has less influence on the lift-to-drag coefficient and the lift-to-drag ratio; as the Reynolds number increases, the optimal angle of attack increases slightly, and the applicable angle of attack range for high lift-to-drag ratios becomes smaller.

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Based on CFD, the flow field characteristics of NACA4412 airfoil are analyzed under pitching motion, and its aerodynamic characteristics are interpreted. The results show that streamline changes on the upper surface of the airfoil play a decisive role in the aerodynamic characteristics. The interaction between the vortex leads to fluctuations in the lift and drag coefficients. Under a big angle of attack, the secondary trailing vortex on the upper surface of the airfoil adheres to the trailing edge of the airfoil, resulting in an increased drag coefficient. Under a small angle of attack, the secondary trailing vortex can break away from the airfoil. The lift coefficient reaches the maximum value of 2.961 before the airfoil is turned upside down, and the drag coefficient reaches the maximum value of 1.515 after the airfoil is turned upside down, but the corresponding angles of attack of the two are equal.

Based on CFD, the NACA4412 pitching motion hydrofoil is compared and analyzed for the lift/drag coefficient, the pressure and the gas volume fraction at different attack angles. The result is that the lift/drag coefficient curve of the dynamic hydrofoil is a closed curve. When the hydrofoil is pitching up, the lift/drag coefficient will be generally greater than that in the static state, which first increases and then decreases as attack angles increases. When the hydrofoil is down, the lift/drag coefficient will be generally smaller than that in the static state, which first decreases and then increases as attack angles decreases. Moreover, when the hydrofoil is pitching upwards, there will be a sudden change in pressure on the subsurface, resulting in an extreme value. In addition, there is more comprehensive cavitation on the upper surface of the dynamic hydrofoil, and local cavitation on the subsurface.