FREE SURFACE EFFECT ON CHARACTERISTICS OF TWO-DIMENSIONAL WING

WIG (Wing-in-Ground-Effect) high speed marine craft are becoming popular. The free surface effect on the characteristics of the wing was considered negligible, however, it was not confirmed clearly by theoretical calculation. This paper presents a method to calculate the steady potential flow fields around the 2-D wing and the characteristics of the wing, taking into consideration the free surface effect. The wing is represented by source distribution on the wing surface and constant vortex distribution on the camber line. The free surface effect is taken into account by source distribution on the still water surface. Calculation is performed for various wing sections. Results confirm the negligible free surface effect on the characteristics of the wings.