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Making Future Industries

3D Printed Surfboard Fins

This project addresses the Global Challenge of Making Future Industries by developing surfboard fins using a performance feedback loop. This loop involves the unique combination of computational fluid dynamics, computer aided design, 3D printing, stiffness/flex testing, ocean testing (surfing the waves), embedded sensors / wearables, the Internet-of-Things, machine learning and surfers’ perceptive experiences.

Surfing is an iconic sport that is extremely popular in coastal regions, including the South Coast of NSW in Australia. The Illawarra is a hotbed of surfers and surfboard makers.

Current surfboard fin manufacturers produce high end products using an expensive injection moulding process to create hydro-foil shaped fins. This process, however, does not allow for easy customisation or rapid prototyping. Creating custom fins is a time consuming and costly process that is difficult to commercialise.

We have already established that additive manufacturing (3D printing) is a viable alternative for manufacturing surfboard fins. For example, it allows for the rapid prototyping and testing of new fin shapes, including optimising fin shapes on a daily cycle. 

The expected outcomes of this project include (but are not limited to) creating a product cycle that allows for rapid testing (including performance analysis) of surfboard fins, enabling the design of fin shapes with improved performance relative to those commercially available. 
 

Macaronis surf resort, Indonesia

The team stayed at Macaronis recently to test a range of new 3D printed surfboard fins. Macaronis was chosen as the ocean laboratory due to the mechanical and consistent quality of the wave. This video explains the design and the science behind it.

Revolutionising the sport of surfing

As UOW researchers bring additive manufacturing to surfboard design, surfers could create their own custom fins. Researchers have designed a performance feedback loop to test fins in real life conditions in an 'ocean laboratory'.

3D printed fins tested in Indonesia

Ever dreamed of surfing some of the world best surf breaks all in the name of research? That’s exactly what the team did on a recent trip to Macaronis in the Mentawai Islands located off Sumatra in Indonesia.

Next level surfing

Professor Marc in het Panhuis on how 3D printing surfboard fins can help researchers rethink current surf fin designs and manufacturing techniques in order to create new shapes, sizes and materials that are more efficient and tailored to the individual surfer’s needs and the waves they ride.

Researchers hit the surf

Within a matter of hours, the research team can dream up and build an entirely new fin design using materials that match the properties of mass produced fins, the team can make functional parts on demand and test them almost immediately on the NSW South Coast.

In the Media

 

Publications

Additive Manufacturing, Modeling and Performance Evaluation of 3D Printed Fins for Surfboards,Volume 2, Issue 16 (Processing and Manufacturing) 2017 , pp. 913-920, Reece D. Gately, Stephen Beirne, Geoff Latimer, Matthew Shirlaw, Buyung Kosasih, Andrew Warren, Julie R. Steele and Marc in het Panhuis

 

The team

This project brings together experts in materials science, human geography, engineering, biomechanics, 3D printing, computer aided design, computational fluid dynamics, Internet-of-Things, data mining and surfing.

  • Professor Marc in het Panhuis is the leader of the project and is in the School of Chemistry and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials, and a Professor of Materials Science
  • Professor Julie Steele is the deputy-leader of the project and the co-founder of Breast Research Australia (BRA) in the Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health
  • James Forsyth is a PhD student under the supervision of Prof Julie Steele in the Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health.
  • Paul Jones is a photo-journalist and is in the UOW Media Unit.
  • Dr Andrew Warren is a lecturer in Human Geography in the faculty of Social Sciences
  • A/Prof Buyung Kosasih is the School of Mechanical, Materials and Mechatronic Engineering in the faculty of Engineering Information Sciences.
  • Dr Alhoush El-Shahomi is in the School of Mechanical, Materials and Mechatronic Engineering in the faculty of Engineering Information Sciences and was part of the project during 2017.
  • Dr Stephen Beirne is a Research Fellow at UOW's Intelligent Polymer Research Institute (IPRI)
  • Grant Barnsley is a Fabrication Technician at UOW’s Australian National Fabrication Facility node. He is responsible for CAD and 3D printing of the fins and associated materials.
  • Professor Pascal Perez is the Director of UOW’s SMART Infrastructure Facility.
  • Dr Mehrdad Amirghasemi is an intelligent systems design specialist and is in UOW’s SMART Infrastructure Facility.
  • Dr Benoit Passot is an Internet of Things Coordinator in UOW’s SMART Infrastructure Facility.
  • Dr Johan Barthelemy is a data specialist and is in UOW’s SMART Infrastructure Facility.
  • Fletcher Thompson is the lead Additive Fabrication Officer at UOW's Intelligent Polymer Research Institute (IPRI). Fletcher was part of the project during 2015.
  • Dr Reece Gately completed his PhD under the supervision of Prof Marc in het Panhuis as part of this project. Reece worked on 3D printing and was part of the project during 2015-2016.
  • Dr Matthew Berryman is a data specialist at UOW’s SMART Infrastructure Facility. and was part of the project during 2017.
  • Hugo Henris is a student at the University of Namur (Belgium) and is part of the project during 2018 working on data analysis.
  • Matt Shirlaw is a software developer and was part of the project during 2015-2016.
  • Geoff Latimer is the coordinator of the Illawarra Sports High School Talented Surfing Program and was instrumental in the conception of the project. He was one of the main testers for the first 3D printed prototypes.
  • Surfboard partner: DP Surfboards (Thirroul, NSW, Australia) DP Surfboards began as a backyard operation in the 1990's and has grown to become one of Wollongong and the South Coast's elite surfboard brands.

 

Surfers

Brett Connellan
Chad Uphill
Dylan Perese
Geoff Latimer
James Forsyth
Nick Clifford

 

This project is working towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals:

Goal 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure .  Goal 12: Responsible consumption and production .  Goal 17: Partnerships for the Goals