| CPC F01D 5/141 (2013.01) [F05D 2240/304 (2013.01); F05D 2260/96 (2013.01)] | 18 Claims |
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1. A structure adapted to traverse a fluid environment, the structure comprising:
an elongate body having a length defined by a root to a wingtip, and a width defined by a leading edge to a trailing edge, the elongate body traversing a fluid;
a plurality of flexible projections coupled to a respective position along the trailing edge and extending from a base to a tip, the base and tip defining a length of a flexible projection within the plurality of flexible projections;
a pressure side extending along a chord length of the elongate body from the leading edge to the trailing edge;
a suction side extending along the chord length of the elongate body from the leading edge to the trailing edge and opposing the pressure side, the pressure side and suction side have a camber to cause the fluid traversing the elongate body to generate a local median fluid pressure vector at the trailing edge;
wherein the plurality of flexible projections bend to form a curvature extending from the base to the tip which conforms to the local median fluid pressure vector at the trailing edge of the elongate body, and the plurality of flexible projections have a first resonant frequency above an oscillating force generated by the local median fluid pressure vector; and
wherein the following condition is true for the plurality of flexible projections:
kp/Lp4>kb/Lb4
where kp is the stiffness of the flexible projection, Lp is the length of the flexible projection, kb is a stiffness of the elongate body, and Lb is the chord length of the elongate body, such that a lowest resonant frequency of the plurality of flexible projections is above a lowest resonant frequency of the elongate body.
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