Numerical investigation of the hydrodynamics of changing fin positions within a 4-fin surfboard configuration

Falk S, Kniesburges S, Janka RM, O'Keefe T, Grosso R, Döllinger M (2020)


Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2020

Journal

Book Volume: 10

Article Number: 816

Journal Issue: 3

DOI: 10.3390/app10030816

Abstract

Most sports like surfing are highly developed. It is necessary to tease the last percentages out of the competitors and equipment-in the case of surfing the surfboard-fin-system-to win competitions or championships. In this computational investigation, a parameter study of the positioning of the two rear fins within a 4-fin configuration with fixed front fins on a surfboard is executed to find appropriate fin positions for specific surf situations. Four different inflow velocities are investigated. The RANS and URANS models combined with the SST k-ω turbulence model, which is available within the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) package STAR-CCM+, are used to simulate the flow field around the fins for angles of attack (AoA) between 0° and 45°. The simulation results show that shifting the rear fins toward the longitudinal axis of the surfboard lowers the maximum lift. Surfboards with 4-fin configurations are slower in nearly the whole range of AoA due to a higher drag force but produce a higher lift force compared to the 3-fin configuration. The lift and drag forces increase significantly with increasing inflow velocity. This study shows a significant influence of the rear fin positioning and the inflow velocity on lift and drag performance characteristics.

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APA:

Falk, S., Kniesburges, S., Janka, R.M., O'Keefe, T., Grosso, R., & Döllinger, M. (2020). Numerical investigation of the hydrodynamics of changing fin positions within a 4-fin surfboard configuration. Applied Sciences, 10(3). https://doi.org/10.3390/app10030816

MLA:

Falk, Sebastian, et al. "Numerical investigation of the hydrodynamics of changing fin positions within a 4-fin surfboard configuration." Applied Sciences 10.3 (2020).

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