William Froude | |
|---|---|
 William Froude | |
| Born | 28 November 1810 |
| Died | 4 May 1879 (1879-05-05) (aged 68) |
| Nationality | English |
| Education | Westminster School |
| Occupation | Engineer |
| Spouse | Catherine Henrietta Elizabeth Holdsworth |
| Children | Robert Edmund Froude, Eliza Margaret Froude |
| Parent(s) | Robert Froude, Margaret Spedding |
| Engineering career | |
| Discipline | Hydrodynamics |
| Institutions | Admiralty Experiment Works |
| Projects | Firstship test tank |
| Significant design | Water brake dynamometer |
| Significant advance | Hydrodynamics,Froude number,blade element theory |
| Awards | Royal Medal(1876) |
William Froude (/fruːd/;[2] 28 November 1810 – 4 May 1879) was an English engineer, hydrodynamicist andnaval architect. He was the first to formulate reliable laws for the resistance that water offers to ships (such as thehull speed equation) and for predicting their stability.
Froude was born atDartington, Devon, England, the son ofRobert Froude, Archdeacon of Totnes and was educated atWestminster School andOriel College, Oxford, graduating with afirst in mathematics in 1832.
His first employment was as a surveyor on theSouth Eastern Railway which, in 1837, led toBrunel giving him responsibility for the construction of a section of theBristol and Exeter Railway. It was here that he developed his empirical method of setting outtrack transition curves and introduced an alternative design to the helicoidalskew arch bridge atRewe andCowley Bridge Junction, nearExeter.[3][4] During this period he lived inCullompton and wasVicar's Warden at St Andrew's Church from 1842 to 1844. He organised, and paid a large amount to the rebuilding of thechancel and other restoration work. He also offered to pay to restore thenave if local people would pay 10% of the cost but this offer was refused. On completion of the Bristol to Exeter line in 1844 he left the town.[5]
At Brunel's invitation Froude turned his attention to the stability of ships in a seaway and his 1861 paper to theInstitution of Naval Architects became influential in ship design. This led to a commission to identify the most efficient hull shape, which he was able to fulfil by reference to scale models: he established a formula (now known as theFroude number) by which the results of small-scale tests could be used to predict the behaviour of full-sized hulls. He built a sequence of 3, 6 and (shown in the picture) 12 foot scale models and used them in towing trials to establish resistance and scaling laws.
His experiments were vindicated in full-scale trials conducted by theAdmiralty and as a result the firstship test tank was built, at public expense, at his home inTorquay. Here he was able to combine mathematical expertise with practical experimentation to such good effect that his methods are still followed today.[6]
Froude also tested the "wave-line" theory ofJohn Scott Russell. The modelRaven had sharp lines in accordance withScott Russell's theory. TheSwan had fuller lines with blunt ends.Raven had less resistance at low speeds of the two, butSwan had less resistance at higher speeds. This showed that the "wave-line" theory was not as universal as claimed, and was the start of a better understanding of hull resistance.
In 1877, he was commissioned by the Admiralty to produce a machine capable of absorbing and measuring the power of large naval engines. He invented and built the world's firstwater brakedynamometer, sometimes known as the hydraulic dynamometer.[7]
While on holiday as an official guest of theRoyal Navy he died inSimonstown, South Africa, where he was buried with full naval honours.
He was the brother ofJames Anthony Froude, a historian, andHurrell Froude, writer and priest. William was married to Catherine Henrietta Elizabeth Holdsworth, daughter of the Governor ofDartmouth Castle, mercantile magnate andmember of ParliamentArthur Howe Holdsworth.
His sonRobert Edmund Froude, born in 1846, would go on to co-foundHeenan & Froude Ltd inBirmingham. The company initially produced water brake dynamometers following from his father's design and later a range of dynamometers of various types. The Froude name as a trademark has been an element in a number ofequity transitions and exists currently under the monomym "Froude," a group which comprises Froude, Inc. (USA) and Froude, Ltd. (UK).[7] Robert Froude would also further his father's theoretical work describingblade element theory[8] in papers authored to the Royal Institution of Naval Architects. This included a description ofmomentum theory.[9] Blade element theory and momentum theory would later be unified within the more comprehensiveblade element momentum theory.
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