Shape-changing bodies in fluid: Hovering, ratcheting, and bursting

Motivated by recent experiments on the hovering of passive bodies, we demonstrate how a simple shape-changing body can hover or ascend in an oscillating background flow. We study this ratcheting effect through numerical simulations of the two-dimensional Navier–Stokes equations at intermediate Reynolds number. This effect could describe a viable means of locomotion or transport in such environments as a tidal pool with wave-driven sloshing. We also consider the velocity burst achieved by a body through a rapid increase in its aspect ratio, which may contribute to the escape dynamics of such organisms as jellyfish. © 2009 American Institute of Physics. DOI: 10.1063/1.3054143