Racing yacht appendages optimization using fluid-structure interactions

R. Balze , Nedeleg Bigi (1) , Kostia Roncin (1) , Jean-Baptiste Leroux (1) , Alain Nême (1) , Vincent Keryvin (1) , A. Connan , H. Devaux , D. Gléhen

1 IRDL - Institut de Recherche Dupuy de Lôme

GSEA Design developed a fluid structure method (FSI) suitable for early design stage of appendage with complex shapes dedicated to the America’s Cup flying catamarans. The aerodynamic loading and the boat weight are counteracted by the appendages and mainly the dagger-board. Consequently, the appendage structural design is very critical. Based on a 3D lifting line and a modified beam element method, the GSEA Design FSI method takes less than one minute to compute. An illustrating example on a L-shape appendage shows that the FSI results compared to a non-FSI results can be particularly different at the elbow. Thanks to the short computational time of the method, multi-objective optimizations can be performed. For instance, a second illustrating example shows the optimization of the appendage weight and stiffness.

Domains: Physics [physics]; Mechanics [physics]

R. Balze, Nedeleg Bigi, Kostia Roncin, Jean-Baptiste Leroux, Alain Nême, et al.. Racing yacht appendages optimization using fluid-structure interactions. 4th Innov’Sail conference, Jun 2017, Lorient, France. ⟨hal-01710681⟩