Hydrodynamic Analysis of Swept-wing Hydrofoils

Wei Ding; Zekai Sun; Yangbing Liu

doi:10.54691/gzqvkx25

Hydrodynamic Analysis of Swept-wing Hydrofoils

Wei Ding, Zekai Sun, Yangbing Liu

Frontiers in Science and Engineering, (2026), Vol.6, No.1, pp.82-90

Published: January 24, 2026

DOI: 10.54691/gzqvkx25

PDF: Download Full Text PDF

Abstract

This study aims to enhance the energy capture performance of oscillating hydrofoils for marine current and wave energy applications through geometric optimization. A straight hydrofoil is selected as the baseline, a swept leading-edge hydrofoil is used as the reference, and a kinked leading-edge modification is introduced. The computational domain and mesh refinement are constructed in ANSYS Workbench, and unsteady CFD simulations in Fluent are performed to evaluate lift, drag, moment power coefficient, and total power coefficient. Results indicate that the 15° swept hydrofoil improves lift and lift-to-drag ratio but reduces power output. Introducing a leading-edge kink modifies the near-field flow, strengthens pressure gradients and vortex structures, and ultimately increases both moment and total power coefficients beyond the baseline design. Vorticity and pressure analyses show that the kinked geometry delays flow separation and stabilizes power generation, offering guidance for marine energy converter design.

Keywords: Sweep-wing Hydrofoil, Hydrodynamics, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD).

APA Citation: Wei Ding, Zekai Sun, Yangbing Liu (2026). Hydrodynamic Analysis of Swept-wing Hydrofoils. Frontiers in Science and Engineering, 6(1), 82-90. https://doi.org/10.54691/gzqvkx25

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