Effects of stern-foil submerged elevation on the lift and drag of a hydrofoil craft

Abstract

Effects of the stern-foil submerged elevation on the lift and drag of a hydrofoil craft are studied by using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and by considering three alternative stern-foil submerged elevations. The submerged elevation of the front foil is kept constant in all the alternatives. From among the alternatives, the deepest stern-foil placement results in the highest stern-foil lift with the highest foil's lift-To-drag ratio. However, considering the lift-To-drag ratio of the whole foil-strut-hull system, the shallowest stern-foil placement results in the highest lift-To-drag ratio. The struts and the foil's submerged elevation significantly affects the drag of the whole foil-strut-hull system.