CFD Calculations on the Sail-like Three Dimensional Airfoils

Abstract

It is important to understand the flow characteristics around two sails of a yacht. In this paper the aerodynamic performances were predicted using a CFD(Computational Fluid Dynamics) tool for sail-like wings similar to the main and jib sails of a 30 feet sloop. Lift and drag coefficients were calculated for various conditions of gap distance and overlap between the two sails. Also the effect of heel on sail performance is investigated. The CE(center of effort) of the sail system were also obtained. On the other hand, the wind tunnel experiments were carried out to measure aerodynamic forces acting on the combined sails. It was found that the combination of two sails produced the lift force larger than the sum of the lift force by each sail standing separately and the gap distance between the two sails were important factor to increase total lift of the sloop sail system.