1142 Study on Propulsive Performance of Outboard Propulsor Equipped with Oscillating Fin

A propulsion system with a fish-like tail fin stroke has been proposed as a novel propulsion system with higher propulsive efficiency and higher safety than a conventional screw propeller. This paper describes the development of an outboard propulsor using an oscillating horizontal fin that is easy to attach to and detach from a small boat. The performance of the outboard propulsor mounting a reflection panel over the fin was investigated. In the experiment, the velocity of the boat, the acceleration and the fuel cost were measured by using a rigid fin and an elastic fin. The thrust of the outboard propulsor was estimated by obtaining acceleration of the moving boat.