Measurements of the inertia parameters (Gregory, 2006) of a keelboat hull using a bifilar suspension (Newman and Searle, 1951) are described. Bifilar yaw moment measurement normally entails accurate measurement of the length l and spacing 2d of the suspension, and of Ty the period of pure yaw oscillation (Miller, 1930). The primary difficulty with a bifilar suspension is avoiding unwanted modes of oscillation, specifically sway when measuring yaw. However, for an athwartships suspension, the sway motion is that of a simple pendulum of period Ts and observation of the combined motion allows the yaw gyradius ky≡ kzzto be determined as ky = (Ty/Ts)d. Thus only the ratio of the periods and the suspension spacing need to be measured. Measurements of the normal mode periods of the double pendulum motion (Rafat, Wheatland et al., 2009) when the hull is displaced in surge allow for the pitch gyradius kp≡ kyyand the height l2 of the center of mass to be determined. The latter can be confirmed by measuring the incline angle of the hull when a weight is suspended from the stern and/or the bow. Repeating yaw measurements with the hull tilted, and then with the bifilar suspension fore and aft to measure the roll gyradius, kr≡ kxx, allows for the angle ψ of the inertia ellipsoid (Wells 1967) principal x axis to the hull x axis to be calculated. Although the present keelboat measurements were made using ultrasonics (Daedalon, 1991) and photogates (Pasco, 2000), such measurements can now be more easily made using MEMs gyros, such as that in the iPhone (xSensor, 2010). This is illustrated by the measurements on a model keelboat.
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December 2014
This article was originally published in
Journal of Sailboat Technology
Journal Paper|
April 12 2019
Bifilar Suspension Measurement of Boat Inertia Parameters
J Sailboat Technol 3 (12): 1–37.
Paper Number:
SNAME-JSBT-2014-01
Article history
Received:
December 01 2014
Accepted:
December 01 2014
Citation
Hinrichsen, Peter F.. "Bifilar Suspension Measurement of Boat Inertia Parameters." J Sailboat Technol 3 (2014): 1–37.
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