Hydrodynamic characteristics of the double-winged otter board in the deep waters of the Mauritanian Sea

In this paper, we tested the hydrodynamic characteristics of a new, double-winged otter board that consists of a forewing, a leading edge slat and a trailing edge flap. Flume experiments were conducted in a circulating flume tank by using a model with an aspect ratio (AR) of 0.85 and a horizontal planform area (S) of 0.09 m(2). The results indicated that the critical angle (alpha(cr)) of the model was 44A degrees, whereas the maximum lift coefficient (C-Lmax) was up to 1.715, and the door efficiency (K) was 1.122. The attack angle (alpha) ranged from 30A degrees to 48A degrees and from 10A degrees to 46A degrees when the lift coefficient (C-L) and door efficiency (K) were greater than 1.2 and 1.0, respectively. To compare the difference between double-winged otter board and traditional Morgere Polyvalent Ovale, same model of Morgere Polyvalent Ovale was also tested under the same experimental conditions. The critical angle (alpha(cr)) and maximum of lift coefficient (C-Lmax) of the double-winged otter board were 37.5% and 14.6% larger than those of the Morgere Polyvalent Ovale. Therefore, we concluded that the novel, double-winged otter board was more suitable for bottom trawling fisheries in the deep water of the Mauretania Sea due to its better hydrodynamic characteristics and stability.