Testing a Boat with Different Wave Propulsors in a Hydrodynamic Channel

Abstract

The paper presents the results of the comparative testing of wave propulsors of five types, including the propulsor of the underwater sail type, a rigid foil with elastic couplings, and a propulsor without movable elements using the effect of the nonlinear interaction between a wave and the working body of the propulsor. The rigid foil operation is numerically simulated using the XFlow software package. The influence of the wave propulsor location on the boat frame, the depth of its immersion, the elastic coupling parameters, and the presence of stabilizing aft devices on the propulsor performance is studied. It is shown that for a rigid swinging wave propulsor with elastic couplings mounted on the bow of a boat the velocity of the boat motion is proportional to the bow swinging.