Foil Design
Closed
The Foil Design JIP aimed at achieving advanced knowledge which will assist the early design phase of new concepts of foiling vessels. The research was focused especially on the performance of the hydrofoils in unsteady conditions.
Background
Hydrofoil technology has been known for decades (the first concept of foiling boat was developed early 1900’s in Italy on Maggiore lake). The real industrial developments for larger ships started in the 50’s and peaked in the 80’s for military applications and passenger transports for relatively short distance. Despite the obvious advantages in terms of improved seakeeping and resistance reduction at high speed, new developments stopped and the current fleet is fading slowly. The reasons of the decline is mainly attributed to high maintenance costs, complexity of propulsion systems and ride control performance.
Top nautical sports revived the interest of foiling and the enthusiasm in general about such technology. The incredible boost in performance for those category of ships has been possible thanks to the use of composite materials, light weight structures and improved ride control. Structural and hydrodynamic simulations capabilities have obviously helped designing such new solutions and to potentially extend the applications to more parties in the maritime sector than in the past.
In the past decades a very complete knowledge has been collected and mostly focused on the performance of hydrofoils in steady state conditions. However, there is still work to be done in terms of dynamic response of hydrofoils in unsteady conditions, particularly in the eventual presence of cavitation and/or ventilation. These aspects are expected to have significant impact in the foil design process. In particular, they are very relevant for dynamic control system design, development of simulation tools and to determine the coupled hydro elastic response of flexible composite foils.
Top nautical sports revived the interest of foiling and the enthusiasm in general about such technology. The incredible boost in performance for those category of ships has been possible thanks to the use of composite materials, light weight structures and improved ride control. Structural and hydrodynamic simulations capabilities have obviously helped designing such new solutions and to potentially extend the applications to more parties in the maritime sector than in the past.
In the past decades a very complete knowledge has been collected and mostly focused on the performance of hydrofoils in steady state conditions. However, there is still work to be done in terms of dynamic response of hydrofoils in unsteady conditions, particularly in the eventual presence of cavitation and/or ventilation. These aspects are expected to have significant impact in the foil design process. In particular, they are very relevant for dynamic control system design, development of simulation tools and to determine the coupled hydro elastic response of flexible composite foils.
Contact
Luigi Francesco Minerva
senior project manager
JIP overview
The Foil Design JIP specifically examined the performance of isolated hydrofoils in both steady and unsteady conditions, combining forced oscillation motions and free surface effects.The ultimate objective was to develop a preliminary design tool that provides comprehensive information on steady and unsteady foil characteristics, as well as relevant data for dynamic control system design. In particular, the design tool is capable to predict the lift and drag for an extended range of possible applications. The novelty lies in the fact that steady as well as unsteady conditions are considered during the early design phase. The tool can identify optimal foil designs (or predict the performance for a given input) within a design space enough extended to serve a large variety of applications. This aspect will reflect in having a more realistic awareness of the hydrofoil performances in calm water and in waves, and more importantly to gain a better knowledge concerning the definition of the dynamic control strategy in combination with the generation of mathematical models of the hydrofoil itself.
The Foil Design JIP is now concluded. Results and the tool will be available to the JIP participants for the agreed confidentiality period of two years (expiration date November 2027). For further information read the leaflet or contact us. Related publications will be shared here when available.
