How do fish hide in the sand? Erosion by an oscillating foil

Abstract eng:
Some bottom-dwelling fish generate a flow capable of resuspending sand, to bury themselves and avoid predators. By flapping their fins, they create vortices that lift the sand particles up and deposit them on top of their backs. A model experiment has been developed to characterize this situation: a rigid foil placed above a sand bed mimics the fin motion. We characterized the influence of the amplitude and frequency of the motion on the generated fluid flow. In addition, the onset of erosion was determined and these measurements were rationalized to predict the minimum velocity of the oscillation to erode the granular bed.

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