HYDROFOILS

BY
A.ADHIMOOLAM(NA456)
DEFNITION

 . A winglike structure attached to the hull of a boat that

raises all or part of the hull out of the water when the
boat is moving forward, thus reducing drag.
 . A boat equipped with hydrofoils. Also called hydroplane
HISTORY OF HYDROFOILS

 Italian inventor Enrico Forlanini began

working on hydrofoils in 1898, and used
a “ladder” foils system.

 In 1909 company built the full scale

22-foot (6.7 m) long boat, Miranda III.
Driven by a 60 hp (45 kW) engine, it
rode on a bowfoil and flat stern. The
subsequent Miranda IV was credited
with a speed of 35 knots (65 km/h).[6]
 DEVELOPMENT OF HYDROFOILS
 . On 9 September 1919 the HD-4 developed
by Bell and Baldwin set a world marine
speed
record of 114 km/h (70.86 mph), a record
which stood for two decades.

 . In 1952, Supramar launched the first

commercial
hydrofoil, PT10 "Freccia d'Oro" (Golden
Arrow),
in Lake Maggiore, between Switzerland
and Italy.
The PT10 is of surface-piercing type, it
can carry 32 passengers and travel at 35
knots (65 km/h).
TYPES OF HYDROFOILS
WORKING PRINCIPLE
 At low speeds the hull (body of ship) sits in the water
and the hydrofoils are totally submerged in the water.

 As the boat’s speed increases, the hydrofoils create lift.

 At a certain speed, the lift produced by the hydrofoils

equal the sum of  the boat and cargo weights.
Therefore the hull comes out of the water.

 Instead of having an increase in drag with increasing

speed because the hull is lifted out of the water (contrary
to what happens in traditional boats due to pressure drag),
the hydrofoils provide a more efficient way of cruising.
Decreasing the drag contributes to the better use of the
power needed for the movement of the boat.
LIFTING MECHANISM

 As the speed along these streamlines increases,the

pressure drops (this will become important shortly).  
The fluid that moves over the upper surface of the foil
moves faster than the fluid on the bottom
 The difference between the pressure on the top surface
and the ambient pressure at the bottom surface will
produce a net pressure that will cause the lift.(See
diagram.)
 USES OF HYDROFOILS
 These hydrofoil boats are mostly used
for fishing but given the speed factor,
these hydrofoil boats can be used for a
multitude of purposes in the days to
come.
 1. The high speed, smooth cruise and
better turns delivered by hydrofoils
have been used in military ships.
 Soviet Union built Voskhods are one of
the most successful passenger hydrofoil
designs. It was developed in the Soviet
Union and manufactured in Russia and
Ukraine.
 Hydrofoils are used in water sports in
many countries
 DEMERITS OF HYDROFOILS
 Hydrofoils are sensitive to impacts with
floating objects and marine animals. If
the hydrofoils hit something the boat will
fall off the foils and this often creates a
perception of increased danger
 Hydrofoils are expensive to build. A
vessel like the Boeing Jetfoil nowadays
costs about 3 times the price of an
equivalent catamaran passenger ferry.
This prices them out of the market
completely
 The second problem is hydrofoils are
almost like sharp knives going through
the water, normally fatally injuring any
marine mammal (e.g. whales) they hit.
This is in contrast to normal hulls which
just slide over a whale with minimal
damage to both.
 CONCLUSION
 Just like yachts which have revolutionized the
shipping and the boating industry to a great level, the
hydrofoil boats are also capable of doing something
equally great. Right now the usage of a hydrofoil boat
is not much but given the benefits and the efficiency
of such boats, it is quite possible that more and more
parties will take to boats involving the use of hydrofoil
as a successful alternative to the existing ones.
 These hydrofoil boats are compact and unlike several
other items which have lots of restrictions imposed
on them because of their compactness, they are free
of any encumbrances, making them even lucrative
from the point of view of any current and potential
boat-owner