Self-orienting piling, fluid-flow reduction device
AssigneeThe United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy
InventorsRobert Woodall, Felipe Garcia
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AssigneeThe United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy
InventorsRobert Woodall, Felipe Garcia
Estimating the term…
A load reduction device is mounted on a piling to reduce flow-drag created by fluid flowing on and past the piling. Upper and lower collars engage the piling to support and guide a bi-directionally tapered hydrodynamic foil having a tapered leading vane portion and tapered trailing vane portion extending between the collars. The bi-directionally tapered hydrodynamic foil is rotatably supported in the collars to permit its rotation about the longitudinal axis of the piling. The tapered trailing vane portion has an extended tapered shape to orient the leading edge of the tapered leading vane portion into the direction of flowing fluid and reduce hydrodynamic drag on the piling. Load reduction devices of this invention can reduce the loads on pilings attributed to flowing water by at least two hundred percent for a given set of hydrodynamic flow conditions.
A device to reduce load created by flowing fluid on a piling comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.