A cylindrical methodology for the study of fabric aerodynamics

Abstract

The understanding of aerodynamic behavior of sports garments in high speed sports can lead to achieve higher efficiency and performance.in order to understand the aerodynamic behavior of fabrics used in speed sports garments, prior studies have mainly used the vertical cylindrical methodology in wind tunnel environments. However, using the vertical cylindrical methodology, the aerodynamic behavior of sports garments cannot be fully realistic as athlete's all body parts are not positioned vertically all the time. Limited information is available on cylindrical methodology that can provide aerodynamic characteristics of fabrics under inclined positions. Therefore, the primary objective of this study is to develop a cylindrical methodology that can be used for both vertical and inclined positions. The suitability of the developed method for the fabrics is investigated using a wind tunnel. The results indicated that the developed methodology suited well and provided detail aerodynamic information about the fabric used. © 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.