An articulating wingsail design for Wind Assisted Ship Propulsion (WASP) applications

A novel articulating wingsail design for WASP is developed and an 8.25 m2 prototype has been constructed. This wingsail has potential as a supplementary source of propulsion for cargo shipping. By using wind power, the greenhouse gas emissions from shipping can be significantly reduced. To further develop this wingsail concept, detailed 2D Computational Flow Dynamics simulations have been performed. These suggest that the articulating wing has the potential to provide up to 30% more lift than a fixed aerofoil of the same cross section. These results further suggest that the articulating wingsail concept has potential as a Wind Assisted Ship Propulsion technology