PIV applied to a moving rowing blade
E. J. Grift (TU Delft - Fluid Mechanics)
Mark J. Tummers (TU Delft - Fluid Mechanics)
EFJ Overmars (TU Delft - Fluid Mechanics)
J Westerweel (TU Delft - Fluid Mechanics)
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Abstract
We investigate the fluid motion generated by a moving rowing blade. The blade follows a complex path with rather strong acceleration and subsequent deceleration. The blade path is mimicked at a 1:2 scale in a large open-top water tank using a robot system. The tank is transparent, thus enabling full optical access for performing large-field particle image velocimetry (PIV). The robot system allows us to precisely repeat subsequent rowing blade motions. PIV measurements in the same plane show that the fluid motion is highly repeatable, except for the small-scale turbulent fluid motions. When combined with direct measurements of the forces on the rowing blade (Grift et al. 2019a) the PIV data provide insight in the variation of the hydrodynamic forces acting on the blade during motion. This makes it possible to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the propulsion which is of great relevance to competitive rowing.