Racing Wheels’ Effect on Drag/Side Forces Acting on a Cyclist at Sportstech-Miun Wind Tunnel

Petrone, Nicola; Giacomin, Marco; Koptyug, Andrey; Bäckström, Mikael

doi:10.3390/proceedings2060210

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…The improvement of the performance of cyclists and their equipment has been the aim of many past research efforts (e.g., [3,[8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]). Several studies compared the aerodynamic performance of different types of wheels including spoked, tri-spoke, and disk wheels, either isolated (e.g., [5,7,[18][19][20][21][22][23][24]) or together with the rest of the bicycle (e.g., [25,26]). A few computational fluid dynamics (CFD) studies also investigated how computational parameters and approaches to model the wheel/ground contact influence the aerodynamics of spoked wheels [27][28][29].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of Disc Wheel Geometry on Aerodynamic Performance: A Computational Fluid Dynamics Investigation

Malizia

Blocken

2022

Journal of Fluids Engineering

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Aerodynamic drag is the main resistive force in cycling at high speeds and on flat terrain, so reducing it is critical to improve cyclist performance. Aerodynamic comparisons have been made in the past between different types of wheels, and disc wheels were often the best performers. However, to the best of our knowledge, there are no studies in the available literature on how modifications to the disc wheel geometry can improve its performance. Therefore, this paper studies and compares the aerodynamics of disc wheels with flat side discs and with curved side discs (lenticular). Moreover, semi-lenticular front wheels with an asymmetrical shape are introduced. All but one of the simulated (semi )lenticular wheels perform better than the flat disc wheels at all yaw angles, e.g., the maximum CD reduction was 5.5%, 10.9% and 87.5% at 0°, 4° and 8° yaw angle, respectively. Semi-lenticular wheels provide a lower CD at medium and large yaw angles compared to corresponding symmetric lenticular wheels. Moreover, the large influence of the ratio of tire width to wheel width on the aerodynamic drag of cycling wheels is confirmed. These results will help riders in their wheels choice and will help manufacturers to design future disc wheels.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of Disc Wheel Geometry on Aerodynamic Performance: A Computational Fluid Dynamics Investigation

Malizia

Blocken

2022

Journal of Fluids Engineering

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“…The majority of these studies have been performed on isolated wheels and they focused on comparisons of the drag of different wheels [6,[9][10][11][12][13][14][15], on the aerodynamic drag reduction by adding external elements like claddings or splitter plates [16,17], on the aerodynamic influence of the tire width to rim width ratio [18], the impact of wheel rotation on the aerodynamic drag [16,19], the influence of the rotational moment on the total power required to move the wheel [11] and the influence of computational parameters and the type of wheel/ground contact modeling to the aerodynamics of spoked wheels [20][21][22]. Only a few studies have focused on the aerodynamics of non-isolated cycling wheels, including those by Godo et al [23], Barry et al [24] and Petrone et al [25]. In addition, Kyle [26] mentioned that rear wheels had about 40% lower drag than front wheels, as rear wheels are situated partly in the wake of the rest of the bicycle.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The drag values were also dependent on the type of the front wheel used, disc, tri-spoke and spoked wheels with shallow or deep rims. Petrone et al [25] tested three sets of spoked wheels on a bicycle with a cyclist in a WT. The results were then used as input into a mathematical model which computed the time necessary to complete a flat but not straight track of 57 km.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of wheel rotation on the aerodynamic drag of a time trial cyclist

2021

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Aerodynamic drag is the main resistive force in cycling at high speeds and on flat terrain. In wind tunnel tests or computational fluid dynamics simulations, the aerodynamic drag of cycling wheels is often investigated isolated from the rest of the bicycle, and sometimes in static rather than rotating conditions. It is not yet clear how these testing and simulating conditions influence the wheel aerodynamic performance and how the inclusion of wheel rotation influences the overall measured or computed cyclist drag. This study presents computational fluid dynamics simulations, validated with wind tunnel tests, that indicate that an isolated static spoked front wheel has a 2.2% larger drag area than the same wheel when rotating, and that a non-isolated static spoked front wheel has a 7.1% larger drag area than its rotating counterpart. However, rotating wheels are also subjected to the rotational moment, which increases the total power required to rotate and translate the wheel compared to static conditions where only translation is considered. The interaction with the bicycle frame and forks lowers the drag area of the front wheel by 8.8% for static and by 12.9% for the rotating condition, compared to the drag area of the isolated wheels. A different flow behavior is also found for static versus rotating wheels: large low-pressure regions develop from the hub for rotating wheels, together with a lower streamwise velocity region inside the circumference of the wheel compared to static wheels. The results are intended to help in the selection of testing/simulating methodologies for cycling spoked wheels.

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“…More recently, full-scale wind tunnel methodologies have been developed for able-bodied cycling that allow for wheel rotation via a selection of rollers which the athlete can balance on. 22 Such methodologies may prove useful in future efforts to investigate wheel aerodynamics, accounting for full movement of the athlete, bicycle and wheel geometries.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Computational fluid dynamics analysis of hand-cycle aerodynamics with static wheels: Sensitivity analyses and impact of wheel selection

Mannion

Toparlar

Blocken

et al. 2019

Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part P:

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Aerodynamics research in cycling has underpinned innovative bicycle design, new refined riding positions and optimised rider apparel. There has been a rise in the level of aerodynamics research focused on cycling since the turn of the millennium, enabled by significant increases in computational power and the availability of software/hardware. However, cycling research has not yet fully embraced para-cycling, with limited studies conducted on the aerodynamic performance of hand-cyclists and other para-cyclists. Wind tunnel experiments and computational fluid dynamics simulations were conducted in this research for the analysis of hand-cycling aerodynamics, focused on competitive H1–H4 category hand-cyclists. A quarter-scale representative geometry of a hand-cyclist was used in high-speed wind tunnel experiments. The accuracy of the simulations performed with the three-dimensional Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations was found to be dependent on the turbulence model choice and near-wall grid resolution. Computational fluid dynamics simulations predicted the magnitude of the drag and lateral forces to an accuracy of 2.5% using the shear stress transport [Formula: see text] turbulence model. This study also presents the impact of wheel diameter and disc wheels on hand-cycling aerodynamics via computational fluid dynamics simulations, providing a deeper understanding of the aerodynamic characteristics unique to the hand-cycling discipline in the sport of competitive cycling. Drag reductions of up to 8.9% were found when utilising 20-inch diameter spoked wheels, opposed to the 26-inch wheels. Variations in wheel diameter between the front and rear wheels were found to have a significant impact on the CDA in part through altering the pitch angle of the hand-cycle.

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Racing Wheels’ Effect on Drag/Side Forces Acting on a Cyclist at Sportstech-Miun Wind Tunnel

Cited by 5 publications

References 10 publications

Impact of Disc Wheel Geometry on Aerodynamic Performance: A Computational Fluid Dynamics Investigation

Impact of Disc Wheel Geometry on Aerodynamic Performance: A Computational Fluid Dynamics Investigation

Impact of wheel rotation on the aerodynamic drag of a time trial cyclist

Computational fluid dynamics analysis of hand-cycle aerodynamics with static wheels: Sensitivity analyses and impact of wheel selection

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