A Hydrodynamic Investigation of the Rowing Stroke

摘要

The purpose of this study is to investigate the highly unsteady flow around a rowing blade during a stroke using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The simulation allows for the interaction of the blade with the free surface of the water, accurately accounting for the varying motion of the rowing shell moving through the water and the unsteady angular velocity of the oar blade with respect to the shell. The model is validated with previous experimental results for stationary blades held near the surface in a water flume. Qualitatively, the motion of the free surface around the blade throughout the stroke shows a realistic agreement with the actual deformation encountered when rowing. Drag and lift coefficients calculated for the blade show that the transient hydrodynamic behaviour of a blade in motion differs substantially from the stationary case, meaning that the only way to gain an accurate insight into the flow is to look at an entire, unsteady stroke. To date there has not been a quantitative hydrodynamic analysis, experimental or numerical, of this nature. The information obtained from an analysis such as this, therefore, should be considered significant. An accurate representation of a rowing stroke can potentially impact blade design and stroke optimization.