The breaking and non-breaking wave resistance of a two-dimensional hydrofoil

Abstract

Measurements of the surface-height profile and the vertical distributions of velocity and total head were made behind a two-dimensional fully submerged hydrofoil moving horizontally at constant speed and angle of attack. These measurements were used to resolve the drag on the foil into two parts: one associated with the turbulent breaking region that is sometimes present on the forward face of the first wave, and the other associated with the remaining non-breaking wavetrain. It was found that at ‘incipient breaking’ the first wave existed in either a breaking or a non-breaking state depending on the starting procedures. It was possible to induce steady breaking when the wave slope was 17° or higher. The wake survey measurements showed that the drag associated with breaking reached more than three times the maximum drag that could theoretically be obtained with non-breaking waves. The drag associated with breaking was found to be proportional to the downslope component of the weight of the breaking region.