Hydrodynamic Analysis of 3D Hydrofoil Using Nonuniform Rational B-Spline and Boundary Element Method

In this paper, two different 3D hydrofoils with profiles NACA0012 are simulated in the potential flow. Boundary element method (BEM) and nonuniform rational B-spline (NURBS) are coupled to reduce error and increase accuracy. The computer code is developed in different submergence depths (d), flow velocities (U), and various angles of attack (AoA), and the pressure is obtained by NURBS formulation. The pressure on a 3D hydrofoil with NACA412 profile iscompared with other existing methods. The validity of result is revealed. The accuracy of the results is acceptable. The competition of the two models’ results indicates that the increasing chord length leads to increase in C p min , and the decrease in depth and angle of attack leads to the growing value of C p min . Moreover, when the flow velocity is changed, the changes of potential and pressure coefficient distribution do not follow the specific trend. NURBS is a basic equation in different CAD packages because it is able to mesh surfaces. This study demonstrates that this algorithm does mesh surface of high quality, so it can be developed to generate mesh on the submerged three-dimensional bodies .