Aerodynamic drag between two cyclists: OverPressure push and effect of wheel rotation
Based on previous scientific findings about Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modeling of rotating wheels and the aerodynamic interactions between two cyclists riding one behind another, this article aims to compare and combine the effect of both parameters. The aerodynamic drag of two identical mo...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2025-06-01
|
| Series: | Results in Engineering |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590123025015579 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| Summary: | Based on previous scientific findings about Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modeling of rotating wheels and the aerodynamic interactions between two cyclists riding one behind another, this article aims to compare and combine the effect of both parameters. The aerodynamic drag of two identical models of female track cyclists was simulated in static and with simulated wheel rotations through a validated CFD approach. Two sets of eleven simulations with and without wheel rotation at a wheel-to-wheel distance between the two bikes ranging from 5 cm to 5 m were carried out. Results show that wheel rotation on an isolated cyclist model with his bike and equipment has a 3.6 % larger drag than the same model without wheel rotation. Furthermore, at the usual wheel-to-wheel distance of 0.15 m, two cyclists, one behind the other show a 4.3 % drag reduction for the leading cyclist and 27.9 % drag reduction for the trailing cyclist compared to an isolated one. The overall drag is higher with wheel rotation than without it but the gain from OverPressure Push (OPP) and drafting stays similar. These results suggest the implementation of wheel rotation and accurate 3D geometry in future CFD cycling models to make them more realistic. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 2590-1230 |