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Winning at the Olympics has been the dream of athletes since the time of the ancient Greeks. Some athletes train their entire lives simply for the joy of attending the games in cities such as Athens, Beijing and, in 2012, London. Others are completely focused on nothing less than winning. Beyond the relentless training that prepares an Olympic athlete for competition, computer simulation technology can provide a much-needed edge especially in equipment design and deployment; shaving just a fraction of a second can make the difference between winning and breaking a world record — or not getting a medal at all. To gain that all-important edge, a detailed understanding of the complete scientific mechanisms of each sport is needed: for example, a comprehensive model of sports clothing design that involves a suit’s aerodynamic or even hydrodynamic performance and "breathing" behavior; running shoe design that minimizes pain and ensures comfort; and optimizing equipment such as bicycles, sail boats, skis, canoes, and much more besides. A good design is not enough to win at the Olympics; only the best optimized solution can help athletes reach their highest levels of performance. Engineering simulation solutions from ANSYS have been chosen by winning teams for the last few Olympiads in various event categories such as: The unequalled technical depth within each engineering simulation discipline that has an impact on Olympic performance - fluid flow, structural analysis, thermal behavior, and electromagnetics means ANSYS is best able to offer a comprehensive set of tools to study the most complex problems facing engineers designing for the Olympic athlete today. Our track record of working with gold medal teams and elite athletes is unprecedented. With our unparalleled breadth of engineering simulation disciplines integrated into a single environment, the ANSYS Workbench platform, an Olympic equipment designer or simulation engineer is able to develop a virtual prototype of a sport’s equipment, which incorporates individual elite athletes right across comprehensive multiphysics modeling – the real world. This unique approach of ANSYS and its internal knowhow and technical support expertise enables the investigation of the thermal and moisture comfort of a suit during a marathon or long-distance swimming event for instance while taking into account complex turbulent flow patterns of the surrounding fluids. Equipment designers can analyze the impact of composite materials on the performance, flexibility and robustness of skis, vehicles, boats, rackets or bats. Virtual prototyping helps engineers see how important parts of assemblies can be improved while considering the various situations that could be encountered during competition. Engineering simulation technology from ANSYS clearly provides an understanding of how to push materials and equipment to their limits while preventing failure due to fatigue, excess stress and deformation. Athletes have access to equipment designed with materials that can enhance their performance and are resistant to failure. Thus, a competitor’s intense training is supported through engineering technology that can help them stretch their limits further and further. |
Pressure contours on a simulated skeleton slider, with pathlines colored by velocity magnitude
Flow path lines around a cyclist with a disk rear wheel in a 20 mph crosswind
The world's fastest swimsuit, the LZR RACER® from Speedo
High speed airflow pathlines colored by local velocity over the 2006 Teamgeist soccer ball |
