'Aerodynamic and Hydrodynamic Performance Analysis of a Speed Kiteboarder'

AFSTUDEERCOLLOQUIUM

Op woensdag 11 november a.s. houdt de heer Rolf van der Vlugt zijn afstudeervoordracht,

getiteld:

'Aerodynamic and Hydrodynamic Performance Analysis of a Speed Kiteboarder'

Abstract:

Speed sailing can be seen as the ultimate challenge for a sailing craft. Kiteboarders have recently shown to be capable of extremely high sailing speeds using a relatively cheap and simple combination of a kite and a board. They proved to be the world’s fastest sailing crafts during a record attempt in October 2008, in September 2009 the record was broken again by a large hydrofoil trimaran. Only little is known about the performance characteristics of a kiteboarder. Research is required to investigate the possibilities to further increase the sailing speed and reach the maximum speed potential of a kiteboarder.

This thesis aims to obtain a general understanding of what properties are of importance to obtain a high kiteboarding velocity and to understand how each component contributes to the finally obtained velocity.

It is explained how to calculate the sailing velocity when wind velocity and both the aerodynamic and hydrodynamic efficiency is known. The kiteboarder is divided into four components; the board, the rider, the lines and the kite. Each component is separately analyzed. The aerodynamic forces on the rider and the lines are estimated using available theory. A special effort is made to investigate the kite’s lift and drag coefficients. A new kite testing method is proposed. The test is based on steering the kite in a horizontal path from one side to the other while constantly monitoring kite velocity, line tension and wind velocity. The hydrodynamic properties of the board are analyzed using available empirical results and by analyzing measured data from a kiteboarding session. Two steady state models are built to combine all the obtained knowledge. Two cases are described and worked out to obtain an overview of the drag distribution over the kiteboarder.

Graag nodig ik u uit dit colloquium bij te wonen.

Tijd: 14.00 uur
Plaats: Collegezaal C, Faculteit der Luchtvaart- en Ruimtevaarttechniek
Kluyverweg 1, Delft.
De afstudeerhoogleraar,
prof.dr. W.J. Ockels.