Bridgestone Create Artificial Fin

Bridgestone has supplied a rubber fin for a dolphin that lost most of its tail fin to disease. Fuji, a 235-kilogram female at the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium, is the recipient of the manufacturer’s technology, and is said to have regained nearly all of her swimming ability since receiving the new fin. Bridgestone engineers believe that this is the first-ever successful development of an artificial fin for a dolphin.

Volunteer employees at Bridgestone went to work on the rubber fin for Fuji in December 2002. The company subsequently assembled a project team which delivered its first prototype in September 2003 and its a second prototype the following month. After numerous tests it delivered a third and final prototype in March of this year.

The fin is made of silicone rubber, a material that is highly compatible with living tissue. It has a cushion of patented foamed rubber called, “Everlight Moran,” where it fits against the dolphin’s body. ACM (Advanced Composite Material) provides reinforcement for the fin, and reduces the load on Fuji because of its light weight comparing to the metal. The Bridgestone engineers analysed the movement of dolphin fins in three dimensions and FEM (finite element method) used for designing tyres to optimise the fin design.