Flow past a wind-assisted ship propulsion device

Abstract

An experimental investigation has been carried out on a wind-assisted ship propulsion device (WASP), consisting of a cylinder-flap wing with boundary layer suction. Measurements of the pressure distribution, lift and drag have been presented for various angular locations of the suction area and flap. It was found that a lift coefficient of 4.2 is obtained, with suction coefficient of 0.09, when the suction area and flap are symmetrically placed at angular locations of 110° from the relative wind axis; the corresponding lift-drag ratio is 6. Also presented is a polar plot which ascertained that the propulsion force is not significantly affected by small variations (±10°) in the angular position of the flap. However, a corresponding variation in the suction location will significantly affect the propulsion force. © 1991.