Sail calculation

Hi everyone,

I'm new here and I am looking for some calculation to help me out in design a sail for my project (actually to see if it is feasible or not). I am studying a MSc in Marine Engineering at UCL (London-UK) and I have a challenge to design a mega container ship (40.000 TEU ) for 2035 with sail assist.

I wonder if anyone can help me or give me a link where I can dig up the theory and the formulas.

Regards,

 

Try these guys:
http://www.tricoastal.com/shipdesign.htm

 

thanks, will have a look.

 

I was at one stage told, the rule of the thumb is length x 4 is approx. the sail area required. i.e. for a 6 meter yacht = 24 m2 That will become quite sky scraper for your size boat. 300 meter long? x 4 = 1200 m2 meter. Bert

 

thanks mate! will use this as a initial stage of development..

actually the LOA is almost 500m

but how the efficiency is increased with this value?

 

Length times 4 isn't a very reliable method to calculate sail area. A wetted area times a qualifier will be much better, but in reality, you should use several mitigating factors for this calculation. Of course, the whole concept is absurd, but yeah, have fun with it.

 

Hi PAR, of course you are right, but I feel nobody is really helping this student. Thus at least he is then able to work something out to get a feel whether it is a good idea to have a 500 meter long boat having some massive sails with all the consequences or to look for something else, like solar panels which produces energy in the dark + solar panels which produces energy during sun, thereby energy producing for 24 hours. By the time his 2035 boat is rolling out the shipyard, there might be even better solutions. With modern ships having only a few crew on board, to start with sails, are not very helpful to decrease the crew. 24 hours solar panels might be a better option. 200 watt per square meter for his available surface space of maybe (500?) 100 meter x 20 = 2000 x 200 watthr = 400 kwh, one can do something with 400kw extra propeller power. Bert

 

Hi there, maybe this will help you.

http://cdn2.hubspot.net/hub/209338/file-13855460-htm/news/sailpowercalc/sailpowercalc.htm

How to calculate windforces

success Bert