ABSTRACT

The water bike consists of an integrated float unit, propeller and frame. Stability on water is the main function of this product. The aerodynamic aspects of the float and propeller (or transmission system) will affect their performance. Specifically for the manufacture of floats and propellers (transmission systems) for water bicycles, CFD analysis is required to inform the performance of these components. The method used in this study is a computer fluid dynamic (CFD) simulation method to analyze the fluid study that occurs when the float and propeller models are applied to the fluid environment. The model that will be used as a simulation object is a parametric 3D model that has been designed according to field conditions. The dimensions of the 3D model of the buoy and propeller system are at the manufacturing design scale. When the buoy speed is 5.5 m/s it is detected that the speed of water flowing around the buoy averages 5.215 m/s with the highest speed of 6.635 m/s in the 1.50 m area and the lowest speed in the 0.22 m area. When the float speed is 5.5 m/s, the pressure that occurs in the surrounding area is detected in the range of 0.117 – 0.118 MPa. The highest pressure of 0.118 MPa occurs in areas 1.50 and 2.30 m with water speeds of 6.635 m/s and 5.739 m/s. The lowest pressure, which is 0.103 Mpa, occurs in an area of 0.22 m with a water speed of 1,100 m/s. When the float speed is 9.7 m/s, the pressure that occurs in the surrounding area is detected in the range of 0.107 – 0.158 MPa. The largest pressure value is in the area of 1.00 m with a value of 0.178 MPa. While the lowest pressure value is in the area of 0.22 m with a pressure value of 0.107 MPa.