Author(s)

S. Fagg & X. Velay

Abstract

Hydrofoils, rudders, fins and the like are used on sail powered marine vehicles to resist the sideways force generated by the sail and also to give directional control. These hydrofoils need to operate on both tacks and so a symmetrical cross-section is normally employed which tends to limit the overall hydrodynamic performance. To realise further performance gains, a novel design approach is proposed to incorporate camber in the cross-section by means of a reversible and variable camber device. The device functions by using the surface pressure forces on the foil to invoke controlled structural deformations in the hydrofoil cross-section, with the amount of deformation being a function of the velocity and the angle of incidence of the section to the freestream. To predict the manne

Keywords