Calculating Fluid Dynamic Forces on a Towing Cable

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around calculating fluid dynamic forces on a towing cable used in fishing rigs, specifically focusing on the depth of a trolling rig. Participants explore the physics involved in approximating the forces acting on the rig, including drag and buoyancy, while avoiding complex fluid dynamics equations.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Mathematical reasoning
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant is developing a calculator to approximate the depth of a trolling rig and is using basic physics formulations to achieve a target accuracy of +/- 7.5% depth.
  • The participant breaks down the problem into calculating the depth based on line length, angle, and forces acting on the lure, including weight, buoyancy, and drag.
  • There is a challenge in approximating the drag and buoyancy of the fishing line, which is dependent on the angle θ, complicating the calculations.
  • Another participant requests clarification and a diagram to better understand the problem being addressed.
  • A later reply indicates that the forces on the line increase as more line is submerged, which typically reduces the angle θ, creating a feedback loop in the calculations.
  • One participant mentions a thesis related to the topic but expresses difficulty in extracting useful information due to a lack of expertise in fluid dynamics.
  • Another participant raises a question about intellectual property concerns related to the details of the discussion.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express varying levels of understanding and clarity regarding the problem. There is no consensus on the best approach to calculate the forces or the depth of the rig, and the discussion remains unresolved with multiple competing views on how to proceed.

Contextual Notes

Participants note the complexity of the problem due to the interdependence of angle θ and the forces acting on the line, as well as potential accuracy issues when using predetermined angles for calculations.

Imurphy
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I am trying to develop a calculator to approximate the depth of a trolling rig used by fisherman, which is typically a lead weight with a hook (jighead), attached to a single plastic/rubber shad body (http://www.tacklecoveshop.com/images/Product/icon/1734.jpg). The other typical rig is a jig/shad setup with an array of unweighted shad bodies running radially from a single weighted lure (http://www.texstackle.com/merchant/2209/images/large/umbrellas.JPG). There is some empirical studies already which are a good reference, but they are difficult to use when there are any deviations.

I'm trying to use some basic physics formulations without getting into naiver-stokes, flexibility/vibration considerations, etc., to get an accuracy around +/- 7.5% depth.

To solve this problem I'm breaking it down into:

Depth=(L*sin(θ)-Hrod)

Where L is the line length, Hrod is the height of the rod (start of line) above the water level and θ is the angle with respect to the water level.

θ=invtan (Fy/Fx)

Where Fy is the sum of forces in the y direction (weight - buoyancy), and Fx is the drag forces.

It is trivial to get Fy for just the lure, and approximating the drag as a lead sphere is also pretty easy. I may be able to solve for Cd of these lures from the data I have. Although the tail of the shad body oscillates, we should be able to add in a drag/weight/buoyancy for any N shad bodies with some accuracy. With these considerations we get a constant angle independent of line length. The next step is to approximate the weight and drag of the line to add in the decrease in θ as line length increases. This is where it gets tricky. I started off trying to approximate the line as a rigid cylinder but the issue is that the area used to find drag length of line in the water for buoyancy are both dependent of the angle θ. Is there a simple way to iterate this to get the steady state angle that I'm not thinking of? Or can anyone explain to me how to properly find the forces on the line that will add to the total system?

I found this Thesis, but unfortunately I'm not a fluids guy so its hard to get much usefulness from it.

Also, can anyone see anything I may be overlooking with the problem?

Thanks to anyone willing to help, I've been slowly looking into this problems for at least a year.
 
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Can you provide a diagram of what you're trying to figure out? I'm not clear on what you want to know. It seems you are asking how to calculate the depth of the "rig" on the end of a cable/line that is being dragged through the water; is that correct?

CS
 
Diagram Attached. Hope that helps. I'm looking for Fy,line and Fx,line from Fluid forces, for solving for the Depth of the rig/lure. I'm right now trying to approximate viscous drag and form drag on the line. As you can image, these forces increase as more line is in the water, which typically reduces angle θ. The angle is used to calculate the drag so there arises a paradigm. I was attempting to supply a predetermined angle (say for L=50' theta is 30 and L=100' theta is 20 degrees) to solve for the fluid forces but there are obviously some accuracy issues with that.

Thanks,
Imurphy
 

Attachments

  • Trolling Depth Image.jpg
    Trolling Depth Image.jpg
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Could it be related to this thread?

OP cites "intellectual property concerns" as a reason to be cagey about details.
What is the IP policy for PF?
 

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