Leading-Edge Tubercles Delay Stall on Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) Flippers

Abstract

The humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) is exceptional among the baleen whales in its ability to undertake acrobatic underwater maneuvers to catch prey. In order to execute these banking and turning maneuvers, humpback whales utilize extremely mobile flippers. The humpback whale flipper is unique because of the presence of large protuberances or tubercles located on the leading edge which gives this surface a scalloped appearance. We show, through wind tunnel measurements, that the addition of leading-edge tubercles to a scale model of an idealized humpback whale flipper delays the stall angle by approximately 40%, while increasing lift and decreasing drag.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 01, 2004
Accession Number
ADA511517

Entities

People

  • D. S. Miklosovic
  • F. E. Fish
  • L. E. Howle
  • M. M. Murray

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Autonomy
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acquisition
  • Aircrafts
  • Boundary Layer
  • Data Acquisition
  • Flow
  • Flow Separation
  • Geometry
  • Leading Edges
  • Materials Science
  • Measurement
  • Reynolds Number
  • Scale Models
  • United States
  • United States Naval Academy
  • Vortex Generators
  • Whales
  • Wind Tunnels

Readers

  • Aerodynamics.
  • Marine Mammal Biology
  • Mathematics or Statistics