Geometric model for automated multi-objective optimization of foils

This paper describes a new generic parametric modeller integrated into an auto- mated optimization loop for shape optimization. The modeller enables the generation of shapes by selecting a set of design parameters that controls a twofold parameterization: geometrical - based on a skeleton approach - and architectural - based on the experience of practitioners - to impact the system performance. The resulting forms are relevant and effective, thanks to a smoothing procedure that ensures the consistency of the shapes produced. As an application, we propose to perform a multi-objective shape optimization of a AC45 foil. The modeller is linked to the fluid solver AVANTI, coupled with Xfoil, and to the optimization toolbox FAMOSA

Boundary Element Method Analysis of 3D Effects and Free-Surface Proximity on Hydrofoil Lift and Drag Coefficients in Varied Operating Conditions

The use of hydrofoils to enhance ship performance raises the scientific issue of free-surface proximity, which is important to consider during the design stage, to feed velocity prediction programs, for instance. Typically, the flow over a shallowly submerged hydrofoil is characterized by the Froude number, the submergence depth-to-chord ratio, the angle of attack, and geometric parameters of the lifting surface. Among these parameters, the present paper investigates the influence of the wing aspect ratio on the lift and drag coefficients of hydrofoils operating near a free surface. For this purpose, rectangular wings with an H105 profile at 2° angle of attack and aspect ratios ranging from 4 to 20 are systematically analyzed using a 3D boundary element method. The free surface is modeled using a linearized Neumann-Kelvin boundary condition. Chord-based Froude numbers of 0.5, 1.1, and 6.3 are studied. The submersion depth is swept between 0.1 and 30 times the foil chord length. The evolution of the normalized lift and drag coefficients with respect to the foil submersion and the aspect ratio is discussed in detail. Flow velocity is shown to play a significant role in the evolution of the lift and drag coefficients with submersion depth, close to the free surface, for all the aspect ratios. Its influence gets reduced by moving away from the free surface. The critical submersion depth, where the free-surface effects cease, is found to increase with higher flow velocity and aspect ratio. Furthermore, both positive and negative correlations between the force coefficients and the aspect ratio are identified, depending on the operating conditions. It is found that when the proximity to the free surface either enhances or impairs a force coefficient relative to its value in unbounded flow, increasing the aspect ratio amplifies this effect. Overall, this study confirms the effectiveness of steady boundary element methods for simulating the flow around hydrofoil wings in the vicinity of a free surface and contributes to further understanding the influence of geometric parameters on hydrofoil performance

Sail trimming FSI simulation - Comparison of viscous and inviscid flow models to optimise upwind sails trim

A numerical comparison between two FSI models, based on inviscid and viscous flow solvers, is presented in this paper. The differences between aerodynamic coefficients, sail flying shape and pressures computed by both FSI tools are investigated for medium wind conditions. These differences are evaluated for different values of the main sheet length. The study has shown very close results when the main sheet is not over trimmed for medium true wind speed, but discrepancies increase when flow separation becomes significant. Then, an optimisation procedure based on inviscid FSI is performed to optimise the main sheet and car trims, in order to maximise an objective function based on the driving and side forces, in a case of low true wind speed. Limitations of the inviscid flow hypothesis are highlighted and the difficulties to use inviscid FSI models in an optimisation procedure, for a case of low true wind speed, are shown

Free-Surface Effects on Two-Dimensional Hydrofoils by RANS-VOF Simulations

Foiling yachts and crafts are both very sensitive to the flying height in terms of stability and performance, raising the scientific issue of the influence of the free-surface when the foil is at low submergence. This work presents numerical simulations of a 2D hydrofoil section NACA0012 at 5° angle of attack in the vicinity of the free-surface, for different values of the submergence depth, for a chord-based Froude number of 0.571 and a Reynolds number of 159,000. Unsteady-Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (URANS) equations are solved with a mixture model to capture the free surface (Volume Of Fluid method), and using an automatic grid refinement. Verification of the numerical model and validation with data from the literature are presented. Deformation of the free surface and alteration of the hydrodynamic forces compared to the deep immersion case are observed for a submergence depth-to-chord ratio ℎ/c lower than 2. The foil drag increases up to more than three times the infinite-depth value at ℎ/c≈0.5. The lift force slightly increases until ℎ/c around 1, and then decreases sharply. For ℎ/c < 0.5, the pressure field around the foil is totally modified and the lift is swapped to downward. The study highlights the importance of considering the effect of finite submergence to compute foils’ hydrodynamic forces, for example to be used in Velocity Prediction Programs (VPP) of foiling crafts.ANR-19-STHP-0002 GENCI- [IDRIS] (Grant 2021-A10 [A0102A12500

Performance enhancement of downwind sails due to leading edge flapping: A wind tunnel investigation

This work presents a wind tunnel experimental study on the effect of the leading edge flapping on the aerodynamic performance of a spinnaker. Four J80-class spinnaker models, combining two different assembling structures (panel layout) and two different sail materials are tested at various wind speeds and wind angles in a wind tunnel. Results show that, for the wind angle range the spinnaker is designed for, the sustained periodic flapping of the sail leading edge has a significant benefit on performance, with 10% increase in drive force. In these model-scale tests, the sail structural properties did not show significant differences in performance, but affect the point where flapping sets in: a model with a stiffer material and a cross-cut panel layout starts flapping for a longer sheet length, compared to a lighter cloth and a tri-radial layout. Finally, it is shown that the nondimensional flapping frequency is rather constant 0.4 in the design range of wind angle, but it varies with the wind speed and sail structural properties on a smaller wind angle where the spinnaker is more stretched.FP7 PEOPLE IRSES and COFUN

Experimental and numerical optimizations of an upwind mainsail trimming

International audienceThis paper investigates the use of meta-models for optimizing sails trimming. A Gaussian process is used to robustly approximate the dependence of the performance with the trimming parameters to be optimized. The Gaussian process construction uses a limited number of performance observations at carefully selected trimming points, potentially enabling the optimization of complex sail systems with multiple trimming parameters. We test the optimization procedure on the (two parameters) trimming of a scaled IMOCA mainsail in upwind conditions. To assess the robustness of the Gaussian process approach, in particular its sensitivity to error and noise in the performance estimation, we contrast the direct optimization of the physical system with the optimization of its numerical model. For the physical system, the optimization procedure was fed with wind tunnel measurements , while the numerical modeling relied on a fully non-linear Fluid-Structure Interaction solver. The results show a correct agreement of the optimized trimming parameters for the physical and numerical models, despite the inherent errors in the numerical model and the measurement uncertainties. In addition, the number of performance estimations was found to be affordable and comparable in the two cases, demonstrating the effectiveness of the approach

Experimental and numerical trimming optimizations for a mainsail in upwind conditions

This paper investigates the use of meta-models for optimizing sails trimming. A Gaussian process is used to robustly approximate the dependence of the performance with the trimming parameters to be optimized. The Gaussian process construction uses a limited number of performance observations at carefully selected trimming points, potentially enabling the optimization of complex sail systems with multiple trimming parameters. We test the optimization procedure on the (two parameters) trimming of a scaled IMOCA mainsail in upwind conditions. To assess the robustness of the Gaussian process approach, in particular its sensitivity to error and noise in the performance estimation, we contrast the direct optimization of the physical system with the optimization of its numerical model. For the physical system, the optimization procedure was fed with wind tunnel measurements, while the numerical modeling relied on a fully non-linear Fluid-Structure Interaction solver. The results show a correct agreement of the optimized trimming parameters for the physical and numerical models, despite the inherent errors in the numerical model and the measurement uncertainties. In addition, the number of performance estimations was found to be affordable and comparable in the two cases, demonstrating the effectiveness of the approach

Advanced surrogate-based optimization methods - Application to racing yachts performance

L’optimisation de la performance des voiliers est un problème difficile en raison de la complexité du systèmemécanique (couplage aéro-élastique et hydrodynamique) et du nombre important de paramètres à optimiser (voiles, gréement,etc.). Malgré le fait que l’optimisation des voiliers est empirique dans la plupart des cas aujourd’hui, les approchesnumériques peuvent maintenant devenir envisageables grâce aux dernières améliorations des modèles physiques et despuissances de calcul. Les calculs aéro-hydrodynamiques restent cependant très coûteux car chaque évaluation demandegénéralement la résolution d’un problème non linéaire d’interaction fluide-structure. Ainsi, l’objectif central de cette thèseest de proposer et développer des méthodes originales dans le but de minimiser le coût numérique de l’optimisation dela performance des voiliers. L’optimisation globale par méta-modèles Gaussiens est utilisée pour résoudre différents problèmesd’optimisation. La méthode d’optimisation par méta-modèles est étendue aux cas d’optimisations sous contraintes,incluant de possibles points non évaluables, par une approche de type classification. L’utilisation de méta-modèles à fidélitésmultiples est également adaptée à la méthode d’optimisation globale. Les applications concernent des problèmesd’optimisation originaux où la performance est modélisée expérimentalement et/ou numériquement. Ces différentes applicationspermettent de valider les développements des méthodes d’optimisation sur des cas concrets et complexes, incluantdes phénomènes d’interaction fluide-structure.Sailing yacht performance optimization is a difficult problem due to the high complexity of the mechanicalsystem (aero-elastic and hydrodynamic coupling) and the large number of parameters to optimize (sails, rigs, etc.).Despite the fact that sailboats optimization is empirical in most cases today, the numerical optimization approach is nowconsidered as possible because of the latest advances in physical models and computing power. However, these numericaloptimizations remain very expensive as each simulation usually requires solving a non-linear fluid-structure interactionproblem. Thus, the central objective of this thesis is to propose and to develop original methods aiming at minimizing thenumerical cost of sailing yacht performance optimization. The Efficient Global Optimization (EGO) is therefore appliedto solve various optimization problems. The original EGO method is extended to cases of optimization under constraints,including possible non computable points, using a classification-based approach. The use of multi-fidelity surrogates isalso adapted to the EGO method. The applications treated in this thesis concern the original optimization problems inwhich the performance is modeled experimentally and/or numerically. These various applications allow for the validationof the developments in optimization methods on real and complex problems, including fluid-structure interactionphenomena