The Hydrodynamics of Plesiosaurs

Plesiosaurs are extinct marine reptiles that existed at the same time as the dinosaurs, and are the only known animals to swim by actively flapping their four wing-like flippers. This can be viewed as a tandem flapping wing problem, where the hind wing is operating in the wake of the fore wing. Experiments using full-scale robotic plesiosaur flippers in a large flume tank have been used to investigate the kinematics and interaction of the flippers. The flippers are actuated in heave and pitch, and a combination of force measurements and flow visualization are used to analyze the characteristics of the vortex interaction between the flippers. Previous two-dimensional numerical simulations have shown that certain kinematics give an increase in thrust of the hind flipper of up to 50{\%}. The current experiments determine if such thrust augmentation is present for a three-dimensional flowfield and determine the kinematics that give the highest possible thrust. This will help to answer paleo-biological questions about the function and evolution of the plesiosaur flippers, along with helping to determine if tandem flapping wings could be a viable propulsion system for autonomous underwater vehicles.