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Abstract Wingsails as a classical means for wind-assisted ship propulsion is booming today. Crescent-shaped wingsails have shown great potential considering their aerodynamics in thrust generation. However, there have been few studies on its structural responses exposed to unsteady aerodynamic loads. In this study, a crescent-shaped wingsail at a \ (1: 100\) scale is investigated by using wind tunnel tests. The wingsail with aspect ratios of \ (0. 19\) and \ (0. 33\), which are derived from practical wingsail design, are measured at the angle of attack (\ (\) ) from \ (0^\) to \ (90^\), and at the wind speed from \ (20 m/s\) to \ (40 m/s\). The wind loads, pressure distribution, and wingsail tip displacements are measured and discussed. A study of the Reynolds number sensitivity indicates that the trends of the force coefficients and critical \ (\) are changed when the Reynolds number (\ (Re\) ) is above \ (3. 1 10^5\). Besides, at \ (Re=3. 1 10^5\) a lift crisis is found for \ (\) below \ (10^\), and a drag crisis happens for \ (=0^\) at \ (Re=3. 6 10^5\). Structural response analysis is conducted based on the wingsail tip displacement in the direction perpendicular to the chord line. The fundamental eigenfrequency of the structure, instead of the flow-induced frequencies, is found to dominate the fluid-structure interaction measured in the tests. Furthermore, the aerodynamic performance of a three-wingsail system is analyzed based on experiments. Notable interactions are found among the three wingsails.
Zhu et al. (Fri,) studied this question.