YES!Delft

O-foil stands for oscillating foil, or ‘flapping wing’. This technology, developed by OFD, is based on the natural swimming motion of dolphins and whales. It uses a wing that moves up and down and generates propulsion by generating lift in the water, just like a conventional ship’s screw. The difference with the conventional screw, however, is that the wing of the O-foil can extend across the entire width of the ship, creating a significantly greater propulsive area. This results in an increase in output of 50% and a fuel saving of 33% compared to existing screw propulsion technologies. Thanks to the reduced fuel use, emissions of CO2 are significantly less. For stunning movies of the scale model tests check our website www.ofoil.nl, page 'Nieuws'.

Together with you we would like to discuss the target for your thesis on this interesting subject. As minimum it should included dynamic simulations of the O-foil drive system within the program Autodesk Inventor, taking into account the influence of the forces and added watermass of the propulsion wing and the frequency tolerances of the electrical drive system. Support on hydrodynamic behaviour will be provided by Oscillating Foil in Rotterdam and coaching on mechanical and Inventor issues will be from Schouten Engineering in Breda. Corporation with TNO Delft is under preparation. You should be familiar with Autodesk Inventor.