Design and fluid-dynamic analysis of a sailboat hull

Abstract

The “Progetto Velante” (Velante Project) started in October 2007 as an initiative of a group of teachers of the Politecnico di Bari. In the beginning, the project was created following the line of the previous project, launched in 2005, called “Mille e una vela per l'Università” (which literally means “A thousand and one sails for the University”). This previous project had the goal of creating a competition between universities and engineering schools, for the design and construction of sailing boats made with sustainable materials by students, with the help of their teachers. This initiative, through the development of a sailing boat, seeks to promote: - Team work between students of different areas. - The usage of sustainable materials (and procedures). - Enhance the spirit of competitiveness among the students. Under these premises the Velante Project has been active in the Politecnico di Bari since its creation. As I have said, the components of the Velante Project work on the development of a sailboat. The type of sailboat chosen is one of the International One Meter (IOM) class. This boat is a radio controlled sailboat, and its hull cannot exceed a length of one meter (a simple requirement that names the whole class). The Velante Project components will, thereby, design and construct a boat that necessarily fulfills the requirements and boundaries of the International One Meter class. This thesis is related to the part of the work developed by the author and colleagues during the academic year 2011-2012 as a part of the Progetto Velante. The thesis is divided in two main parts: • The first part describes the different components of a sailing boat, and some specific components of a One Meter class sailboat. As well, it explains how we have managed to design and construct some of the parts, and also the procedures used. • The second part is focused on the main part of my work here, the hydrodynamic analysis of the boat using both ANSYS programs and FLUENT software.