Experimental validation of unsteady models for wind / sails / rigging fluid structure interaction

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to present the work of experimental validation elements of the aero elastic and unsteady model ARAVANTI. Numerical and Experimental results comparison is made on the rigging and sails of a J80 sail boat. Yacht modelling demands to consider unsteady phenomena resulting from the sea state, variations of wind speed and direction, yacht motion or trimming by the crew. A dedicated instrumentation is developed to measure the loads in shrouds and tension points of the sail, the apparent wind, the yacht motion, the sails flying shape and the navigation data. A special effort is made on sensors calibration, physical measurement comprehension and data synchronisation. Comparison with numerical results shows that the loads and flying shapes are well predicted by the model.