Second harmonic generation and vortex shedding by a dipole-quadrupole and a quadrupole-octupole swimmer in a viscous incompressible fluid

Abstract

Vortex shedding by a swimming sphere in a viscous incompressible fluid is studied for surface modulation characterized by a superposition of dipolar and quadrupolar, as well as for quadrupolar and octupolar displacements, varying harmonically in time. The time-dependent swimming velocity and the flow velocity are calculated to second order in the amplitude of surface modulation for both models. The models are also useful for the discussion of bird flight.