Experimental Investigation of the Aerodynamics of a Sailing Cargo Vessel with Four Rigid Wingsails under Unsteady Sailing Conditions

Abstract: Wind propulsion is a traditional way to propel ships over the oceans. In the recent development towards more sustainable shipping, sailing is considered in the industry again with high momentum. For a modern merchant ship, the aerodynamic forces generated on the particular rigging are unusual. Tailored research and experiments are required to understand their influence on the ship’s sailing behaviour. This work concerns the aerodynamic interactions on a model-sized car carrier with four 360° rotatable, symmetric, rigid wings aligned along the centreline on deck. Differential pressures on the wings are measured to capture the generated normal forces. In a comprehensive post-processing, data recorded in systematic experiments at two apparent wind angles were evaluated. A comparison for the different wing positions on board the model shows stronger interactions in upwind sailing conditions than when reaching. The two-dimensional data prove a significant influence of the hull in the normal force profiles over the wing span. The results of this work indicate that the aerodynamic conditions while sailing have to be attentively considered for efficient wing trimming.