Thrust prediction of an active flapping foil in waves using CFD

Abstract

A horizontally submerged passive flapping foil can generate thrust force against the wave propagation using wave energy. This renewable method has been used for the design of propulsion and maneuvering systems of ships and other floating structures. Recently, the passive flapping foils were applied to design the station-keeping system of deep-water floaters. Studies proved that the passively flapping foil system was ineffective in short waves and drift of the floater beyond the design limit was recorded. Therefore, an active flapping foil was investigated as a potential solution to this problem. A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) numerical tool "ANSYS Workbench 19.2" was used to predict the thrust force generated by the active flapping foil in a short wave. Results proved that the active flapping foil can effectively convert wave energy into propulsive energy in short waves and the magnitude of the thrust force depends on the flapping frequency.