A hydrodynamics-based model of a rowing stroke simulating effects of drag and lift on oar blade efficiency for various cant angles

A hydrodynamics-based model of the highly complex flow around a rowing oar blade during a rowing stroke, consisting of an analytical shell velocity model fully coupled with a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model, is presented. A temporal examination of the resulting blade force for a standard blade, decomposed into propulsive, drag, and lift components, illustrates the flow mechanisms responsible for shell propulsion and a blade propulsive efficiency term is defined. A comparison of blades with modified cant angles reveals that a -3°cant blade has a higher efficiency than the standard (-6°cant) blade.
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Bibliographic Details
Subjects:
Notations:endurance sports technical and natural sciences
Published in:Procedia Engineering
Language:English
Published: 2010
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B9869-508WXJK-2S/2/e6f1546737c9efb035523d42ed30d8d6
Volume:2
Issue:2
Pages:2857-2862
Document types:article
Level:advanced