Hydrodynamics of an oscillating articulated eel-like structure

A simple semi-empirical model based on Morison's equation was implemented to predict the hydrodynamic forces. This was shown to predict mean thrust well in cases in which the aft segment oscillates in phase with the forward segment, but less reliably when the phase difference between the segments increases. Force time histories are generally not well-predicted using this approach. Nonetheless, self-propulsion speeds are predicted within 30% in all cases examined.