Useful previously published articles from the web:
Wagner Report 173, 1968, Technical University of Hamburg. This classic article is an annotated (in English language) version of Wagner's 1967 German-language paper, which details wind tunnel experiments on a Prolss 6-masted merchant ship design. This rig is today sometimes referred to as a Dynarig or a Falcon rig. The results show that the Prolss rig generates about twice the thrust force (in direction of ship motion) as a conventional square-rigger. The article provides lift, drag and moments of the rig.
Wagner 1967 with marks.pdf |
Fujiwara 2005, Sail-sail and sail-hull interaction on hybrid sail-assisted bulk carrier. This article describes what occurs when a single sail is placed in tandem with 3 other sails on a model ship in a wind tunnel. The sail used is a hybrid sail described in Fujiwara 2003, consisting of a rigid sail, a cloth sail attached to the rear of the sail, and a slat ahead of the rigid sail which generates a max coefficient of lift of 2.63. The authors find that the sails interact with each other, and produce less thrust than 4 independent sails would produce (this was also found by Wagner, 1967). The authors also found (as also Wagner had found) that by increasing the angle of attack of the sails from bow to stern, the loss of thrust due to sail interaction is significantly reduced. The paper also explores the influence of the hull on the air thrust and drag forces on the ship, permitting a comparison of thrust and drag coefficients between a single sail tested in isolation, with a series of similar sails in tandem mounted on a ship.
Fujiwara 2005. Hybrid sail sail/hull interaction.pdf |
A review of the Magnus Effect in aeronautics by J. Seifert, 2012. A review of the Magnus effect in aeronautics and ships (despite the title of the article). This paper provides lift and drag data for a variety of Flettner configurations, including the effect of aspect ratio, end caps and surface roughness.
Flettner review by Seifert |
Fondation Cousteau Windship Propulsion 1980-1985. This paper describes results of research and practical applications by lead author Bertrand Charrier and others, including Jacques Cousteau, showing that the Turbovoile/Fansail/Turbosail is superior to Flettner rotors. The authors found lower power requirements over a range of lift coefficients.A similar device known as the ventifoil has recently been deployed as an auxiliary propulsion device for container ships.
Fondation Cousteau Windship Report 1980 to 1985 |
Wagner report No. 186, 1968. Another classic report by Wagner Technical University of Hamburg. Gives lift, drag and moment coefficients for two hulls at a variety of leeway angles, tested in a water tunnel. The ship types tested are a Mariner hull (with no keel) and the hull of a six-masted bark with and without a long rectangular keel. The paper is in German, but notes in English are provided.
Wagner No. 186 Angled towing trials for Mariner hull (leeway angles).pdf |