Reducing Aerodynamic Interference Through Layout Optimization of Symmetrically Cambered Wingsails: A Comparative Study of In-Line and Parallel Configurations

van Reen, Stephan; Lin, Jianfeng; Niu, Jiqiang; Sharpe, Peter; Li, Xiaodong; Yao, Hua-Dong

doi:10.3390/jmse13101998

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Reducing Aerodynamic Interference Through Layout Optimization of Symmetrically Cambered Wingsails: A Comparative Study of In-Line and Parallel Configurations

by

Stephan van Reen

¹,

Jianfeng Lin

^1,2

,

Jiqiang Niu

³

,

Peter Sharpe

⁴,

Xiaodong Li

⁵ and

Hua-Dong Yao

^1,*

¹

Department of Mechanics and Maritime Sciences, Chalmers University of Technology, 412 96 Gothenburg, Sweden

²

Institute of Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China

³

School of Mechanical Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu 610031, China

⁴

Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

⁵

School of Energy and Power Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2025, 13(10), 1998; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse13101998

Submission received: 21 September 2025 / Revised: 12 October 2025 / Accepted: 17 October 2025 / Published: 17 October 2025

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Computational Fluid Dynamics and Acoustic Design Methods for Ship)

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Abstract

Rigid wingsails are increasingly adopted for wind-assisted ship propulsion, with Symmetrically Cambered (SC) profiles identified as highly efficient for thrust generation. This study investigates installation layouts for multiple SC wingsails, focusing on aerodynamic interference that limits their performance. A fast 2D potential-flow panel method is employed and benchmarked against wind tunnel and 3D IDDES data. Two representative layouts are analyzed: triple-in-line (TL) and quad-in-parallel (QP). Layout optimization is performed using a genetic algorithm with distances between sails as design variables, constrained by the total installation span, at apparent wind angles (AWAs) of

60^{\circ}

,

90^{\circ}

, and

120^{\circ}

. Results show that thrust generation decreases progressively from upstream to downstream sails due to interference effects, with penalties of about 4–6% in the TL and up to 28% in the QP layout. The optimization improves performance only for the TL layout at

60^{\circ}

, while the QP layout shows negligible gains. Analysis of pressure distributions confirms that downstream sails suffer from reduced suction on the leading edge caused by upstream wakes. Overall, the TL layout demonstrates significantly higher aerodynamic reliability than the QP layout. These findings provide new insights into multi-sail configurations and highlight the importance of layout optimization in maximizing thrust efficiency.

Keywords: rigid wingsails; wind-assisted ship propulsion; installation layout; potential flow theory; aerodynamic interference; multi-point optimization

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MDPI and ACS Style

van Reen, S.; Lin, J.; Niu, J.; Sharpe, P.; Li, X.; Yao, H.-D. Reducing Aerodynamic Interference Through Layout Optimization of Symmetrically Cambered Wingsails: A Comparative Study of In-Line and Parallel Configurations. J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2025, 13, 1998. https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse13101998

AMA Style

van Reen S, Lin J, Niu J, Sharpe P, Li X, Yao H-D. Reducing Aerodynamic Interference Through Layout Optimization of Symmetrically Cambered Wingsails: A Comparative Study of In-Line and Parallel Configurations. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering. 2025; 13(10):1998. https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse13101998

Chicago/Turabian Style

van Reen, Stephan, Jianfeng Lin, Jiqiang Niu, Peter Sharpe, Xiaodong Li, and Hua-Dong Yao. 2025. "Reducing Aerodynamic Interference Through Layout Optimization of Symmetrically Cambered Wingsails: A Comparative Study of In-Line and Parallel Configurations" Journal of Marine Science and Engineering 13, no. 10: 1998. https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse13101998

APA Style

van Reen, S., Lin, J., Niu, J., Sharpe, P., Li, X., & Yao, H.-D. (2025). Reducing Aerodynamic Interference Through Layout Optimization of Symmetrically Cambered Wingsails: A Comparative Study of In-Line and Parallel Configurations. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, 13(10), 1998. https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse13101998

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Reducing Aerodynamic Interference Through Layout Optimization of Symmetrically Cambered Wingsails: A Comparative Study of In-Line and Parallel Configurations

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