Evaluation of Longitudinal Static Stability of Human Powered Hydrofoil Boat

In this paper, longitudinal static stability is investigated, which is an essential requirement for the safety and the performance of the human powered hydrofoil boat (HPHB). In case a disturbance changes the trim angle of the boat, the derivative of the moment about the center of gravity must be negative in order to make the boat to be stable. The equation to evaluate the longitudinal static stability of the EPISODE, a HPHB of Chungnam National University with a height controlling system(HCS) is derived. From the derivative it is confirmed that a longitudinal and vertical position of the center of gravity is important for a HPHB. The range of a trim angle while the boat is foil-born was found with a HCS under the condition of mechanical restraint. And it is confirmed that the longitudinal static stability is satisfied for EPISODE in certain range of a trim angle. It is also shown that the longitudinal static stability and a range of the trim angle can be determined from the principal dimensions of a HPHB, therefore, it can be applied from the stage of the conceptual design of HPHB.