Abstract
In this work, we investigate the flow field around speed skating helmets and their associated aerodynamic drag by means of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. An existing helmet frequently used in competition was taken as a baseline. Six additional helmet designs, as well as the bare-head configuration, were analysed. All the numerical simulations were performed via 3D RANS simulations using the SST k-ω turbulence model. The results show that the use of a helmet always reduces the aerodynamic drag with respect to the bare head configuration. Besides, an optimised helmet design enables a reduction of the skaters aerodynamic drag by 5.9%, with respect to the bare-head configuration, and by 1.6% with respect to the use of the baseline Omega helmet.
Highlights
In recent decades, high speed sports have put increasing attention in aerodynamics to strive for excellence
This is the case of speed skating, in which 90% of the total resistance comes from the aerodynamic drag when skating at 15 m/s [1]
They were defined as θ0 = 90 degrees and θ1 = 15 degrees, these being the optimal ones in terms of power extraction and aerodynamic drag reduction respectively for long track discipline [15]
Summary
High speed sports have put increasing attention in aerodynamics to strive for excellence. At the Nagano 1998 Olympic winter games, the Dutch national team used the Delta-Flash suit developed with the experimental zig-zag strips [6], dominating the speed skating events with 11 medals in total and 3 world records [7]. According to the International Skating Unition regulations and technical notes [9,10], skaters should and may use a helmet in short and long track disciplines, respectively Such regulation has attracted much attention towards helmet shape design. It is reported that the use of a helmet can cause 19% of the total drag area of a cyclist in time-trial posture at 60 km/h or 16.6 m/s [13] The latter suggests that in speed skating, the helmet can provide an aerodynamic advantage to the athlete.
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