Ship model testing tank (Froude)
Canal de experiencias hidrodinámicas (Froude)
- Date
- 1871 · confidence high
- Place
- Torquay, Devon, England, United Kingdom
- Credited to
- William Froude
- Field
- Movement
What it is
A tank of about 85 m in which hull models were towed to measure resistance, using Froude's law of comparison to scale up to full size. It replaced empirical design with testing and power prediction before building.
Funded by the Admiralty, Froude built it at his house at Chelston Cross; his son Robert Edmund carried on the work.
What it led to
- ship model tanks in the world's shipyards
- the Froude number
- more efficient hull designs