Foiler Design

[Doug Lord]

Originally Posted by Doran Oster

Hi Doug,

Pro/E can extrude foils with complex profiles and ever-changing crosssections. It can predict the weight of the foils but I don't have the chops or software to predict how much load these designs will support or how to optimize the design. How do the big kids do it? Is there a service for hire?

-d

====================
Doran, I did the basic design for my foils including planform,selecting the foil loading and section but the engineering was done thru John Ilett and the guys who built the 40' Spitfire. They were engineered for the loads they anticipated when jumping.
The main foil is 3.5 sq.ft including 50% of the 45 degree angle dihedral tips and the rudder foil is 50% of the mainfoil area. I can write Mark Pivac in Australia if you'd like and see if he'd be interested and then put you in contact with him. Don't forget Tom and do you know Ray Velinga?
Pivac and team designed this:

[wind_apparent]

Originally Posted by bistros

Generally, blogs are free. The little one I'm maintaining for the build of my son's boat hasn't cost a cent.

In the academic world it is really important to publish your work - succeed or fail. The same thing holds true for non-educational endeavors, but sadly the nonsense legal fiction concept of "intellectual property" raises it's idiotic head and causes progress to slow, companies to fail and lawyers to get rich.

As you are talking about ground breaking and experimental work, publishing can bring positive constructive criticism and contribution from people all around the world. The quality and diversity of the skills necessary to get all the details right on a project of this scale is huge. Problem solving becomes easy when there are many sets of eyes looking for causes.

Saving the people that follow you from duplicating mistakes you have made and solved allows them to concentrate on improving the state of the art, not relearning lessons already past. This is why, good or bad, publishing is important.

The world would not be where it is today without open collaborative knowledge sharing through publication. It is entirely possible to be open and accept outside input without sacrificing commercial potential.

--
Bill

I also pay nothing for my construction blog, but it has been a big help to my cause. Through my blog I was able to find a design partner, get materials sponsorship, and a part time job at a composites shop. It also gives people a way to see how things are going. When I start dragging my feet (all to often), I tend to get e-mails asking whats up? Always gets me out in the shop soon after. I see it as a way for my project to contribute to the future of foiling, because it shows how I solved a given problem and if it worked. Seeing as I don't exactly live in a sailing hotbed, and there isn't a foiler within 1000miles, I wouldn't have been able to get anywhere without seeing other boat building blogs, so its also a way for me to give back to the foiling community that has helped me in a big way. Should give it a go, I would tune in to it.