Chemical company INEOS has developed a new software aimed at improving boat design.
The Chimera software, developed in partnership with designer Coderus, reportedly allows for a sketch design to be processed without further intervention up till the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) stage.
According to the companies, a design can be added to a model of the whole boat, and then run through INEOS’ velocity prediction program (VPP) to test whether it will make the boat faster or not. If positive, Chimera can then prepare the model for a full simulation run across many different boat states in the team’s CFD program.
INEOS has used the software to help develop a new design concept for the AC75 boat which it plans to sail in the 36th America’s Cup. The competition’s new rules have banned testing in wind tunnels and towing tanks and forbidden teams from sailing more than one boat at a time. ‘In doing so they have banned all the normal ‘real’, as opposed to virtual, methods of development,’ INEOS said in a press release. ‘The previous gold standard of development, two-boat testing, is no longer possible. Therefore, INEOS Team UK had to shift the emphasis of testing to the virtual environment.’
This story uses material from INEOS, with editorial changes made by Materials Today. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of Elsevier.
