Study on the hydrofoil application on amphibious aircrafts

Abstract

This Bachelor’s thesis proposes a preliminary study on the use of hydrofoils on amphibian aircraft. It contains a summary on seaplane and hydrofoil technology, followed by theoretical introduction in fluid dynamics and the mathematics applied for the study. At the beginning, the no-hydrofoil aircraft configuration is developed, using the theoretical background and XFOIL for the airfoil, to obtain its performance as a base for the hydrofoil study. The study progresses with the geometric configuration of the hydrofoil based on the researched theoretical background. The validation of this calculation is made with the OpenFOAM software based on a 2D flow simulation. The optimization of the foils are made by trial and error in the CFD. Finally, the new hydrofoil platform is designed and later on its performance is compared to the initial configuration to validate the usefulness of the modification. The author of this study intends to improve the TO performance of amphibian aircraft in order to bring up to date their fuel efficiency, as well as to assist amphibian plane electrification.