The Influence of the Inter-Relationship of Leg Position and Riding Posture on Cycling Aerodynamics

Aerodynamics is an important factor affecting cyclist performance, as at the elite level 90% of rider energy is used to overcome aerodynamic drag. As such, much effort has been channeled into understanding the detailed flow around cyclists, since small gains can produce large rewards. Previous studies have shown that cycling aerodynamic drag is sensitive to leg position during the pedaling cycle; however, a systematic analysis comparing the impact of leg position between different riding postures is yet to be undertaken. To address this question, we compare the impact of leg position for two elite-level riding postures: the standard sprint and pursuit body positions. The comparison shows that the effect of leg position on drag is not consistent between the two riding postures, as the altered flow associated with different leg positions is influenced by the wakes from and proximity of other upstream or nearby components, such as the arms. This study reveals the inter-relationship between leg position and riding posture; and suggests that the flow associated with varied leg position should include surrounding geometrical components to obtain and understand the full aerodynamic impact. Practically, the results are valuable for optimizing the posture and improving skin-suit design for drag minimization.

Development of Highly Efficient Radiation-Convective Recuperator for Furnace of Secondary Aluminum Melting

The high efficient design of the radiation-convective recuperator with secondary emitters have been proposed, in which due to the rational arrangement of heating surfaces, as well as due to the installation of secondary emitters in flues, an increase in heat perception is transmitted to the secondary heat carrier – preheating air. High efficiency of air preheating is provided by two-stage heating: 1st stage of heating – the internal air ring channel with bilateral heating which is washed by combustion products from the parties of the central cylindrical and peripheral ring channels of combustion products; 2nd stage of heating – the external air ring channel in which unilateral heating by products of combustion from the peripheral ring channel of products of combustion is organized. Inner and outer annular air ducts (tanks), interconnected by bypass pipes. To increase the efficiency of heat transfer in the considered recuperator in the central channel of combustion products is placed emitter, which consisting of intersecting radial plates, and in the annular channel of combustion products are placed auxiliary emitters, which made in the form of flat radial edges. These emitters provide an increasing in total heat flux to the walls of the channels of the recuperator. On the basis of the conducted theoretical researches, engineering calculations and CFD – modelling the characteristics of operation of the recuperator for its installation on the furnace of secondary smelting of aluminium are defined. The main advantages of the new design of recuperator are high thermo-hydraulic efficiency, compactness and low metal consumption, ease of installation on the furnace and no need for placement in separate chimneys. It is established that the recuperator provides air heating ta,ex ~ 400 °C at an acceptable aerodynamic drag (pressure drop) on the air track (∆pa ~ 1000 Pa). Appropriate design documentation has been developed for the manufacture of the recuperator, which is installed on a pilot furnace of secondary aluminium smelting by California Die Casting (USA).

Air drag coefficient of textile-covered elastic cylinders – preliminary aerodynamic studies

This paper presents preliminary experimental results on the influence on the aerodynamic drag of a cylinder from the cylinder type (i.e., rigid or soft) and its textile surface. Both a rigid cylinder and a soft-body cylinder, with a gelatin layer, each with five different textile surfaces were measured in the wind tunnel using force measurement technology. The drag coefficient was determined for several Reynolds numbers. The study shows that the elasticity of a cylinder has a significant influence on the drag force and the airflow type. However, the influence of the soft-body cylinder depends on the respective fabric. With the given measurements, no exact statements can yet be made to quantify the influence. This influence must be studied independently and in conjunction with the textile surface in order to gain understanding of the overall system of airflow, textile and elastic body.

Estimating the Aerodynamic Coefficients of a Savonius Rotor Blade Profile Developed Through the Simplex Search Method

The Savonius rotor, a type of vertical-axis wind turbine, seems to be promising for small-scale power generation. Most of the studies conducted so far have focused on the evaluation of torque and power coefficients (CT, CP) of the rotor. This paper aims at analyzing the aerodynamic drag and lift coefficients (CD, CL) of a Savonius rotor blade profile that is generated by the simplex search method to maximize its CP. The optimization is carried out by coupling the numerical simulations with the simplex search method. The optimized blade profile thus obtained is symmetric about its axis, where one half is created through a natural cubic spline curve using three points. Two-dimensional (2D) unsteady numerical simulations have been conducted by adopting ANSYS FLUENT solver to examine the CD and CL of the optimized blade profile at an inlet air velocity of 7.30 m/s. The shear stress transport (SST) k-ω turbulence model is used to solve the transient Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations. The aerodynamic analysis is performed over a range of tip speed ratios (TSRs). The total pressure, velocity magnitudes, and the turbulent intensity contours of the optimized blade profile are generated and studied at different angles of rotation. The CD and CL of the blade profile are investigated for a complete rotation with an increment of 1°. At TSR = 0.8, the optimized profile shows a CDmax of 1.91 at an angle of rotation of 54°, while CDmin is found to be 0.45 at an angle 147°.

Self-consistent Ring Model in Protoplanetary Disks: Temperature Dips and Substructure Formation

Rings and gaps are ubiquitous in protoplanetary disks. Larger dust grains will concentrate in gaseous rings more compactly due to stronger aerodynamic drag. However, the effects of dust concentration on the ring’s thermal structure have not been explored. Using MCRT simulations, we self-consistently construct ring models by iterating the ring’s thermal structure, hydrostatic equilibrium, and dust concentration. We set up rings with two dust populations having different settling and radial concentration due to their different sizes. We find two mechanisms that can lead to temperature dips around the ring. When the disk is optically thick, the temperature drops outside the ring, which is the shadowing effect found in previous studies adopting a single-dust population in the disk. When the disk is optically thin, a second mechanism due to excess cooling of big grains is found. Big grains cool more efficiently, which leads to a moderate temperature dip within the ring where big dust resides. This dip is close to the center of the ring. Such a temperature dip within the ring can lead to particle pileup outside the ring and feedback to the dust distribution and thermal structure. We couple the MCRT calculations with a 1D dust evolution model and show that the ring evolves to a different shape and may even separate to several rings. Overall, dust concentration within rings has moderate effects on the disk’s thermal structure, and a self-consistent model is crucial not only for protoplanetary disk observations but also for planetesimal and planet formation studies.

Numerical calculations of the autorotating rotor under transient conditions

It is necessary to evaluate the performance of the main rotor in design stages of a rotorcraft to obtain the assumed lift force and low aerodynamic drag. This paper presents the CFD numerical analysis of the autorotating rotor under transient conditions. Auto-rotation is particularly important in the case of gyrocopters, while in the case of helicopters it is related to flight safety. The calculations allowed us to obtain aerodynamic forces and torque as a function of rotor azimuth for individual rotor blades. The analysis was performed for a rotor tilted by 15 degrees toward the airflow direction. A geometric model was created for the calculations and then a computational model was created in Ansys Fluent software. The k-ω SST model was adopted as the turbulence model which considers the turbulence kinetic energy and its unit dissipation. The obtained results are presented in a rotor and flow coordinate system.