Experimental Hydrodynamics of Fast-Floating Aquatic Animals

Experimental Hydrodynamics of Fast-Floating Aquatic Animals presents the latest research on the physiological, morphological and evolutionary factors in aquatic animal locomotion. Beginning with an overview on how to conduct experiments on swimming aquatic animals, assessing hydrodynamic forces, resistance and geometric parameters of animal bodies, the book then details how aquatic animals, such as fast-moving dolphins, can achieve high speeds without over-expelling their energy resources. It provides insights into investigations on how animals, including dolphins, sharks and swordfish can maneuver through water at high speeds, offering a natural model for improving human and technological underwater locomotion.

This book is essential for researchers and practicing biologists interested in the study of aquatic animal locomotive physiology and its application to human technology. Advanced undergraduate and graduate students will also find this a helpful academic resource for further understanding animal hydrodynamics.

• Analyzes the locomotive benefits of bodily structures in aquatic animals such as cetacean species, penguins, sharks and fast-swimming fish species, such as the swordfish
• Features the latest research and firsthand investigative studies of aquatic animal hydrodynamic factors, including skin elasticity, fin shape and movement, bioenergy, and more
• Provides a comparison of human to animal hydrodynamics, detailing how energy is spent differently due to evolutionary advances in the latter

Prof. Viktor V. Babenko received his MSc in Mechanical Engineering from the Moscow Aviation Institute in 1963 and his PhD in Fluid and Gas Mechanics from the Institute of Hydro-aeromechanics of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (NASU) in 1970. Between 1963 and 1965, he worked at the Antonov Design Bureau, a Ukrainian aircraft manufacturing company. He has been at the Institute of Hydromechanics since 1965, where he has managed research projects on boundary layers. He has been a professor since 1990, and was the Head of Department until 2000. Throughout his career, he has developed original methodologies for research on boundary layer receptivity to 2D and 3D disturbances, at flows around elastic coatings, near different cavities and ledges, in a vortex chamber, at movement of high-speed surface devices, and others. He has developed control methods for coherent vortical structures arising at various types of flows. From 1989 to 2006, he was a member of the Scientific Council of the Institute of Hydromechanics NASU, and since 2000 he has been a member of the Scientific Councils of the Universities of Civil Aviation and Polytechnic in Kiev.