palHydrofoil Class Reference

#include <palActuators.h>

Inheritance diagram for palHydrofoil:

List of all members.

Public Member Functions

virtual void Init (palBody *pbody, Float px, Float py, Float pz, Float o_axis_x, Float o_axis_y, Float o_axis_z, Float lift_axis_x, Float lift_axis_y, Float lift_axis_z, Float Af, Float a, Float b, Float c, Float density=0.99829)

void SetAngle (Float alpha)

virtual void Apply ()

Detailed Description

A Hydrofoil. Simulates the lift from a fin for an underwater body.

Based on the lift equation:

$L=\frac{1}{2}.\rho.C_L.A_f.V^2$

Where, $C_L=a\alpha^2+b\alpha+c$ is the lift coefficient $\alpha$ is the angle of attack. $\rho$ is the fluid density. (water is approx. 1) $A_f $ is the frontal area. L is the lift force. V is the realtive velocity. a,b,c are experimentally determined.

Member Function Documentation

void palHydrofoil::Apply ( ) [virtual]

Ensures the actuator operates for the current time step

Reimplemented from palImpulseActuator.

void palHydrofoil::Init	(	palBody *	pbody,
		Float	px,
		Float	py,
		Float	pz,
		Float	o_axis_x,
		Float	o_axis_y,
		Float	o_axis_z,
		Float	lift_axis_x,
		Float	lift_axis_y,
		Float	lift_axis_z,
		Float	Af,
		Float	a,
		Float	b,
		Float	c,
		Float	density = `0.99829`
	)			`[virtual]`

Initializes the hydrofoil.

Parameters:

	pbody	The body to connect the actuator to
	px	The x position of the actuator's center
	py	The y position of the actuator's center
	pz	The z position of the actuator's center
	o_axis_x	The orientation axis of the hydrofoil (x)
	o_axis_y	The orientation axis of the hydrofoil (y)
	o_axis_z	The orientation axis of the hydrofoil (z)
	lift_axis_x	The direction in which the lift force is applied (x)
	lift_axis_y	The direction in which the lift force is applied (y)
	lift_axis_z	The direction in which the lift force is applied (z)
	Af	The frontal area of the hydrofoil.
	a	The quadratic term of the lift coefficient
	b	The linear term of the lift coefficient
	c	The constant term of the lift coefficient
	density	The density of the liquid.

void palHydrofoil::SetAngle ( Float alpha ) [inline]

Sets the angle of attack for the hydrofoil

Parameters:

alpha

The angle of attack, must be in the range of -pi/2 to +pi/2

The documentation for this class was generated from the following files:

/var/www/hosted/adrianboeing.com/pal/current/pal/pal/pal/palActuators.h
/var/www/hosted/adrianboeing.com/pal/current/pal/pal/pal/palActuators.cpp


Public Member Functions
virtual void	Init (palBody *pbody, Float px, Float py, Float pz, Float o_axis_x, Float o_axis_y, Float o_axis_z, Float lift_axis_x, Float lift_axis_y, Float lift_axis_z, Float Af, Float a, Float b, Float c, Float density=0.99829)
void	SetAngle (Float alpha)
virtual void	Apply ()