The interaction of the tip vortex and the fragmented vortex on novel humpback whale-biomimetic wings with different low aspect ratios and their effects on aerodynamic performance are presented in this study. A baseline NACA 0015 airfoil and a modified configuration were tested at a chord-based Reynolds number of 0.975 × 104 for different aspect ratios (AR = 1, 2, 3, and infinite). The oil flow visualisation and force measurements were used to explore the effects of the tubercle modification on flow topology, unsteady flow, stall mechanisms, and fluid–structure interactions. Moreover, time-dependent force results were served for spectrogram analysis, which was presented first in this study, to reveal flow modes occurring. The results demonstrate that the whale-inspired geometry alters the laminar separation bubble dynamics by fragmenting large coherent structures into smaller three-dimensional bubbles, which are less susceptible to tip vortex interactions. Time-resolved lift measurements and spectrogram analyses showed that the whale-inspired leading-edge fragmented laminar separation bubbles into smaller, higher-momentum structures, generating higher-frequency flow (fragmented laminar separation bubble-induced and whale flow interaction-induced) modes that mitigated coherent vortex shedding. In AR2, AR3, and 2D wings, two dominant modes emerged. This can be attributed to the intensification of leading-edge vortices interacting with the whale structure, with an increasing aspect ratio. The modified wings exhibited enhanced lift coefficient and delayed stall, particularly for higher aspect ratios, where a mild stall replaced abrupt stall in baseline wings. However, at post-stall conditions, the lift force exhibited higher fluctuation-based stability index values for the whale wings, indicating that while the modification improved overall aerodynamic performance, it slightly reduced flow stability. While studies in the literature have shown that high aspect ratio whale wings provide significant aerodynamic enhancement, particularly at high angles of attack, this study observed that this effect is accompanied by increased vibration due to small, fragmented vortices. Increased vibration is likely to lead to stability issues.
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