Testing of the drag reduction mechanism of skinsuit materials for design

在许多以速度为基础的运动中，如自行车，空气动力阻力在运动员在长时间耐力比赛或短时间高速比赛中所能达到的速度中起着限制作用。KQS公司是一家专门从事高性能运动器材的合同设计和工程公司，总部设在安大略省多伦多。约克大学、多伦多大学和KQS公司的这项合作研究项目的目标是建立运动服的设计标准，以利用精英公路自行车运动员可能通过减少阻力来增强空气动力学性能。技术的改进将进一步支持加拿大在创新运动设备方面的记录，这对加拿大经济具有重要意义。该项目将采用一种实验方法来测量具有基于纺织品的表面粗糙度和流动行程(使用螺纹接缝)的模型几何上的阻力和相应的流动拓扑，以确定增强减阻的可能的相互作用。直接测力与使用粒子图像测速仪的流场测量相结合，将被用来建立关于发生的基本物理机制的知识。将进行粗糙度拓扑和接缝几何形状的参数调查，以支持旨在更好地理解减阻机理的分析，而不是现有的简单或规则的粗糙度和行程几何知识。这些知识将反过来被用于在流动分离可能被推迟以改善空气动力学性能的地区的运动员皮衣的优化。

In many speed-based sports, such as cycling, aerodynamic drag plays a limiting role in the achievable speed of the athlete over long endurance races or short high-speed events. KQS Inc. is a contract design and engineering company specializing in high-performance sport equipment and is based in Toronto, Ontario. The goal of this collaborative research project between researchers at York University, the University of Toronto and KQS Inc. is to establish design criteria for skinsuits to leverage possible aerodynamic performance enhancements of elite road-cycling athletes by the reduction of drag force. The technological improvements will further support the Canadian track record in innovative sports equipment, which is significant to the Canadian economy. This project will take an experimental approach to the measurement of drag forces and corresponding flow topologies over a model geometry with textile-based surface roughness and flow trips (using threaded seams) to determine possible interaction for enhanced drag reduction. Direct force measurements in conjunction with measurements of the flow field will using particle image velocimetry will be used to build knowledge on the underlying physical mechanisms occurring. A parametric investigation of roughness topology and seam geometry will be performed to support analysis aimed at better understanding the drag reduction mechanism beyond existing knowledge of simple or regular roughness and trip geometries. This knowledge will in turn be leveraged for optimization of athlete skinsuits in regions where flow separation may be delayed for improving aerodynamic performance.