The purpose of this investigation was to determine the effects of biological fouling on hydrofoils. NACA 4412 and 4415 hydrofoil models with 6 inch chord and 8 inch span were used in this study. A water tunnel facility was designed and constructed to perform the tests, and the results were verified using computational fluid dynamic modeling. The CFD software package Fluent was used to create a two dimensional model of the water tunnel test section and hydrofoil. The model was meshed using a Laplacian grid smoothing technique that forced the structured grid lines to follow the same approximate contour as the stream lines, allowing for quicker convergence of the solution matrix and a lower degree of rounding error than normally associated with this type of modeling. The fouling was added to the model by introducing a porous medium on the surface of the hydrofoil to simulate the characteristics of biological fouling. The results showed a constant increase in zero-lift angle of attack by 10 degrees for as little as 10 percent fouling, and a reduction in maximum lift by as much as 80 percent.
","abstract_html":"<p>The purpose of this investigation was to determine the effects of biological fouling on hydrofoils. NACA 4412 and 4415 hydrofoil models with 6 inch chord and 8 inch span were used in this study. A water tunnel facility was designed and constructed to perform the tests, and the results were verified using computational fluid dynamic modeling. The CFD software package <em>Fluent </em>was used to create a two dimensional model of the water tunnel test section and hydrofoil. The model was meshed using a Laplacian grid smoothing technique that forced the structured grid lines to follow the same approximate contour as the stream lines, allowing for quicker convergence of the solution matrix and a lower degree of rounding error than normally associated with this type of modeling. The fouling was added to the model by introducing a porous medium on the surface of the hydrofoil to simulate the characteristics of biological fouling. The results showed a constant increase in zero-lift angle of attack by 10 degrees for as little as 10 percent fouling, and a reduction in maximum lift by as much as 80 percent.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Collino, Brian J."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering","degree_level":"Thesis - Open Access","degree_discipline":"Aerospace Engineering","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Allen I. Ormsbee","Tej R. Gupta","Eric v. K. Hill"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":1997,"date_issued":"1997-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"1997-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-27T19:25:23Z","subjects":["biological fouling","hydrofoils","Enteromorpha clathra","computational fluid dynamicsta","Aerospace Engineering"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.erau.edu/db-theses/51","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Allen I. Ormsbee","Tej R. Gupta","Eric v. K. Hill"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Collino, Brian J."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Aerospace Engineering"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis - Open Access"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["biological fouling","hydrofoils","Enteromorpha clathra","computational fluid dynamicsta","Aerospace Engineering"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.erau.edu/db-theses/51"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The purpose of this investigation was to determine the effects of biological fouling on hydrofoils. NACA 4412 and 4415 hydrofoil models with 6 inch chord and 8 inch span were used in this study. A water tunnel facility was designed and constructed to perform the tests, and the results were verified using computational fluid dynamic modeling. The CFD software package Fluent was used to create a two dimensional model of the water tunnel test section and hydrofoil. The model was meshed using a Laplacian grid smoothing technique that forced the structured grid lines to follow the same approximate contour as the stream lines, allowing for quicker convergence of the solution matrix and a lower degree of rounding error than normally associated with this type of modeling. The fouling was added to the model by introducing a porous medium on the surface of the hydrofoil to simulate the characteristics of biological fouling. The results showed a constant increase in zero-lift angle of attack by 10 degrees for as little as 10 percent fouling, and a reduction in maximum lift by as much as 80 percent.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["An Investigation of the Hydrodynamic Effects of Enteromorpha clathrata Fouling on Hydrofoils"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Allen I. Ormsbee","Tej R. Gupta","Eric v. K. Hill"],"dc:creator":["Collino, Brian J."],"dc:description.abstract":["The purpose of this investigation was to determine the effects of biological fouling on hydrofoils. NACA 4412 and 4415 hydrofoil models with 6 inch chord and 8 inch span were used in this study. A water tunnel facility was designed and constructed to perform the tests, and the results were verified using computational fluid dynamic modeling. The CFD software package Fluent was used to create a two dimensional model of the water tunnel test section and hydrofoil. The model was meshed using a Laplacian grid smoothing technique that forced the structured grid lines to follow the same approximate contour as the stream lines, allowing for quicker convergence of the solution matrix and a lower degree of rounding error than normally associated with this type of modeling. The fouling was added to the model by introducing a porous medium on the surface of the hydrofoil to simulate the characteristics of biological fouling. The results showed a constant increase in zero-lift angle of attack by 10 degrees for as little as 10 percent fouling, and a reduction in maximum lift by as much as 80 percent.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://commons.erau.edu/db-theses/51"],"dc:subject":["biological fouling","hydrofoils","Enteromorpha clathra","computational fluid dynamicsta","Aerospace Engineering"],"dc:title":["An Investigation of the Hydrodynamic Effects of Enteromorpha clathrata Fouling on Hydrofoils"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Aerospace Engineering"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis - Open Access"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-27T19:25:23Z"}