Shear-driven swimming in laminar flow inspired by tank treading

Most existing propulsion systems rely on pressure for thrust generation, with shear stress being a major source of drag associated with skin friction. In this study, we propose a novel thrust-generation system using shear stress for thrust production. It features a barrel-shaped body whose outer membrane circulates in a tank-treading manner. Through numerical simulations, the feasibility of this design has been confirmed. The underlying physics and the potential performance have also been explored.