Porta Performance Creates Marine Aerodynamics

(Porta Products Corp.: New Smyrna, FL) -- Porta Performance, a division of Porta Products Corp., announces the creation of Marine Aerodynamics as a product. Over a year in process, the proficiency of Aero Dynamics for the marine industry has come of age.

A proof of concept/case study was perceived to create a 3D scan and CAD files of race boat designs to combine the most advanced marine design both hydrodynamically and aerodynamically.

Scott Porta of Porta Performance undertook a past “unsolvable problem” and the concept came from an offshore racing dynamic. What happens at 100+ MPH when a catamaran converts from a boat to an airplane without wings? “Here’s the dynamic,” says Porta. “The engines are supported by a plane of hard water coming from the hull on the bottom of the gear cases... only until the boat launches and flies. At that point, the engines become a thousand pounds of dead weight, the center of gravity shifts, the bow elevates, and the rest is history.”

The journey began with FARO Technologies, makers of the world’s most sophisticated 3D scanning equipment. Knowing that FARO had worked in IndyCar with Andretti Green Racing and in Sports Car Racing with Pratt & Miller/Corvette Racing, it made sense to align forces for a case study/proof of concept.

Solving otherwise unsolvable problems is just what FARO does on a daily basis. “The FARO Super 6DoF TrackArm technology was the perfect choice,” says Clay Ratcliffe, Porta Performance’s project lead. “After reviewing and performing test scans with the available technologies, it was the only system that did not require any compromise between the physical size of the job, the accuracy over that volume, any line-of-sight challenges caused by the size and shape of the subject matter, and the resolution required to adequately capture the complex surfaces.”

With the 3D scanning complete, the case study/proof of concept moves to file assembly, computational fluid dynamics (CFD), 3D printed model, and the wind tunnel for design validation prior to creating the tooling and molds. Upon completion, the intent of the project is to build a full-sized, race-ready version of the new cat design. Once complete, this boat is slated to compete for a world championship in the Offshore Powerboat Association (OPA) series in 2020.

The result is simple: Produce vessel designs with both hydrodynamic and aerodynamic integrated technology.“In the automotive industry all new cars are tested on the track before production,” says Ed Smith, CEO/principal of the OPA. “For us, OPA is proud to be slated as the primary real-time test tool for this new technology. With our variety of wind, water, and weather conditions, we are the logical choice. We see this as a new marine design solving old-school problems.”

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