Hydrodynamical effect of parallelly swimming fish using computational fluid dynamics method

Fish form schools because of many possible reasons. However, the hydrodynamic mechanism whereby the energy efficiency of fish schools is improved still remains unclear. There are limited examples of fish models based on actual swimming movements using simulation, and the movements in existing models are simple. Therefore, in this study, we analyzed the swimming behavior of Biwa salmon (Oncorhynchus sp., a salmonid fish) using image analyses and formulated its swimming motion. Moreover, computational fluid dynamics analysis was carried out using the formulated swimming motion to determine the fluid force acting on the fish body model with real fish swimming motion. The swimming efficiency of the fish model under parallel swimming was obtained from the calculated surrounding fluid force and compared for different neighboring distances. The flow field around the fish model was also examined. The swimming efficiency of two fish models swimming parallelly was improved by approximately 10% when they were separated by a distance of 0.4L, where L is the total length of the model. In addition, the flow field behind the fish body was examined under both inphase and antiphase conditions and at inter-individual distances of 0.8L and 1.2L. The apparent flow speed in the distance range of 0.5–2.0L from the midpoint of the snouts of the two individuals was lower than the swimming speed. The pressure distribution on the fish model showed an elevated pressure at the caudal fin. Interestingly, we obtained an isopleth map similar to that of a caudal peduncle. To avoid a negative thrust, the aft part of the body must be thin, as shown in the isopleth map obtained in this study.