Additive Manufacturing, Modeling and Performance Evaluation of 3D Printed Fins for Surfboards

Abstract

We demonstrate that Additive Manufacturing (3D printing) is a viable approach to rapidly prototype personalised fins for surfboards. Surfing is an iconic sport that is extremely popular in coastal regions around the world. We use computer aided design and 3D printing of a wide range of composite materials to print fins for surfboards, e.g. ABS, carbon fibre, fibre glass and amorphous thermoplastic poly(etherimide) resins. The mechanical characteristics of our 3D printed fins were found to be comparable to commercial fins. Computational fluid dynamics was employed to calculate longitudinal (drag) and tangential (turning) forces, which are important for surfboard maneuverability, stability and speed. A commercial tracking system was used to evaluate the performance of 3D printed fins under real-world conditions (i.e. surfing waves). These data showed that the surfing performance of surfboards with 3D printed fins is similar to that of surfboards with commercial fins.

3D Printing On-Water Sports Boards with Bio-Inspired Core Designs

“…Recently, studies have been conducted to take advantage of 3D printing in the field of sports. For instance, Gately et al [21] employed 3D printing and CFD to fabricate a commercially usable surfboard fin. Using a fused deposition modeling (FDM) type 3D printer, Park et al [22] fabricated an optimized rifle support for the sport biathlon.…”

Performance evaluation of humpback whale-inspired shortboard surfing fins based on ocean wave fieldwork

“…Written consent was obtained from each participant, with parental consent obtained for the one minor-aged participant. The data of participant 4 (WCT, a professional surfer on the World Surf League (WSL) Men's Championship Tour) was made available by the manufacturers of the commercial tracking system (Tra-ceUp, USA) for comparison to prior research on 3D-printed surfboard fins [34]. Dimensions of the surfboard, fins, and the identity of participant 4 were not disclosed to us.…”

“…All data in Table 4 is calculated from the following equations, with the exception of Trace CB power, CB speed, and BT initial speed, which were all measured by the tracking system. Rotation rates (ω) were calculated per [34] by dividing the cutback and bottom turn angles by their respective durations. Some obvious outliers were observed, where rotation rates were unreasonably high for a surfer to accomplish.…”

“…Surfboard and surfing fin hydrodynamics [24][25][26][27], and surfer performance [28][29][30][31][32][33] have been investigated. However, reports combining studies coupling fin design with surfer performance are scarce [6,34].…”

“…The power generated during this cutback can be a significant factor in a surfing contest, as powerful turns with high rotation rates tend to impress the judges. Gately et al [34] concluded more skilled surfers typically make more powerful turns.…”