The aerodynamics of flapping flight for the smallest insects such as thrips is often characterized by a ‘clap and fling’ of the wings at the end of the upstroke and the beginning of the downstroke. These insects fly at Reynolds numbers (Re) of the order of 10 or less where viscous effects are significant. Although this wing motion is known to augment the lift generated during flight, the drag required to fling the wings apart at this scale is an order of magnitude larger than the corresponding force acting on a single wing. As the opposing forces acting normal to each wing nearly cancel during the fling, these large forces do not have a clear aerodynamic benefit. If flight efficiency is defined as the ratio of lift to drag, the clap and fling motion dramatically reduces efficiency relative to the case of wings that do not aerodynamically interact. In this paper, the effect of a bristled wing characteristic of many of these insects was investigated using computational fluid dynamics. We performed 2D numerical simulations using a porous version of the immersed boundary method. Given the computational complexity involved in modeling flow through exact descriptions of bristled wings, the wing was modeled as a homogeneous porous layer as a first approximation. High-speed video recordings of free-flying thrips in take-off flight were captured in the laboratory, and an analysis of the wing kinematics was performed. This information was used for the estimation of input parameters for the simulations. Compared with a solid wing (without bristles), the results of the study show that the porous nature of the wings contributes largely to drag reduction across the Re range explored. The aerodynamic efficiency, calculated as the ratio of lift to drag coefficients, was larger for some porosities when compared with solid wings.

SUMMARY: Mathematical and experimental studies of the flows generated by jellyfish have focused primarily on mechanisms of swimming. More recent work has also considered the fluid dynamics of feeding from currents generated during swimming. Here we capitalize on the benthic lifestyle of the upside-down jellyfish (Cassiopea xamachana) to explore the fluid dynamics of feeding uncoupled from swimming. A two-dimensional mathematical model is developed to capture the fundamental characteristics of the motion of the unique concave bell shape. Given the prominence of the oral arms, this structure is included and modeled as a porous layer that perturbs the flow generated by bell contractions. The immersed boundary method is used to solve the fluid–structure interaction problem. Velocity fields obtained from live organisms using digital particle image velocimetry were used to validate the numerical simulations. Parameter sweeps were used to numerically explore the effects of changes in pulse dynamics and the properties of the oral arms independently. Numerical experiments allow the opportunity to examine physical effects and limits within and beyond the biologically relevant range to develop a better understanding of the system. The presence of the prominent oral arm structures in the field of flow increased the flux of new fluid from along the substrate to the bell. The numerical simulations also showed that the presence of pauses between bell expansion and the next contraction alters the flow of the fluid over the bell and through the oral arms.

SUMMARY: Quantifying the flows generated by the pulsations of jellyfish bells is crucial for understanding the mechanics and efficiency of their swimming and feeding. Recent experimental and theoretical work has focused on the dynamics of vortices in the wakes of swimming jellyfish with relatively simple oral arms and tentacles. The significance of bell pulsations for generating feeding currents through elaborate oral arms and the consequences for particle capture are not as well understood. To isolate the generation of feeding currents from swimming, the pulsing kinematics and fluid flow around the benthic jellyfish Cassiopea spp. were investigated using a combination of videography, digital particle image velocimetry and direct numerical simulation. During the rapid contraction phase of the bell, fluid is pulled into a starting vortex ring that translates through the oral arms with peak velocities that can be of the order of 10 cm s–1. Strong shear flows are also generated across the top of the oral arms throughout the entire pulse cycle. A coherent train of vortex rings is not observed, unlike in the case of swimming oblate medusae such as Aurelia aurita. The phase-averaged flow generated by bell pulsations is similar to a vertical jet, with induced flow velocities averaged over the cycle of the order of 1–10 mm s–1. This introduces a strong near-horizontal entrainment of the fluid along the substrate and towards the oral arms. Continual flow along the substrate towards the jellyfish is reproduced by numerical simulations that model the oral arms as a porous Brinkman layer of finite thickness. This two-dimensional numerical model does not, however, capture the far-field flow above the medusa, suggesting that either the three-dimensionality or the complex structure of the oral arms helps to direct flow towards the central axis and up and away from the animal.

Synopsis: Metachronal motion is used across a wide range of organisms for a diverse set of functions. However, despite its ubiquity, analysis of this behavior has been difficult to generalize across systems. Here we provide an overview of known commonalities and differences between systems that use metachrony to generate fluid flow. We also discuss strategies for standardizing terminology and defining future investigative directions that are analogous to other established subfields of biomechanics. Finally, we outline key challenges that are common to many metachronal systems, opportunities that have arisen due to the advent of new technology (both experimental and computational), and next steps for community development and collaboration across the nascent network of metachronal researchers.