Since the inception of surfing, the design of the fins attached to the bottom of the surfboard to give control has largely remained the same. These surfboard fins behave very similar to airfoils; they..
Since the inception of surfing, the design of the fins attached to the bottom of the surfboard to give control has largely remained the same. These surfboard fins behave very similar to airfoils; they provide lift, have a camber, chord line and sweep. The goal of this research project is to design more efficient surfboard fins by using engineering concepts taught in the classroom as well as draw inspiration from the aviation industry. This is done by first designing the fin using tools such as xFoil as well as hand analysis. The fin is then modeled in CATIA and run through Ansys Fluent, a computation fluid dynamics software. Next, the fin is 3D printed and coated in a layer of fiberglass before being tested in a wind tunnel and in the water against other fins on the market. Results of this analysis show the different fin’s top speed in the water, lift force of the fin and drag force of the fin. These values are used to determine which fin is most efficient.
