Influence of Wind Unsteadiness and Inhomogeneity on the Mean and Fluctuating Aerodynamic Force Acting on a Wingsail
Abstract
Abstract The unsteady aerodynamic forces acting on a single wingsail immersed in turbulent atmospheric surface layer winds are numerically investigated by means of a blade element method with unsteady aerodynamic force modeling combined with a free-vortex wake model, which are standard tools in the wind energy community. We show that the root mean square (RMS) fluctuation amplitudes of the aerodynamic force range from 15% to 40% of the mean value when the true wind mean velocity is higher than the ship velocity. Peak fluctuation amplitudes are two to three times higher than the root-mean square amplitudes. We also show that the mean aerodynamic force is only slightly reduced when computed using the fully turbulent wind instead of the mean wind profile. Keywords unsteady aerodynamics; wingsail; WASP; atmospheric turbulent boundary layer; large eddy simulation; blade element method
Fields of Study & Subjects
Wind Energy Research and Development
Biomimetic flight and propulsion mechanisms
Fluid Dynamics and Vibration Analysis
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Journal of Sailing Technology
- Publisher
- The Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers
- Volume
- 11
- Issue
- 01
- Pages
- 286–299
- Publication date
- 5 August 2026
- Language
- EN