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Water sports cover a wide range of activities including swimming, water-polo, rowing, kayaking, canoeing, sailing, yachting and surfing. For most of these disciplines, speed is a key factor to success. Minimizing the drag forces primarily induced by water while maximizing the propulsion power induced by the wind when sailing, the motions and mechanics of rowing and swimming, or the way the surfboard interacts with the wave as it pushes the board forward are essential to the success of an individual athlete or team. Engineering simulation solutions are now widely considered when optimizing the complex mechanics that occur in water sports and trying to find the competitive edge that makes the difference between winning and a non-podium finish. Engineering simulation solutions from ANSYS have been successfully applied to improve equipment used in various water sports: Gaining a full understanding of how athletes and their equipment interact with the surrounding air and water requires a comprehensive multiphysics approach to account for all involved factors. The unparalleled breadth found within simulation solutions from ANSYS integrates advanced fluid, structural and thermo-mechanical analyses that allow a designer to parameterize a new prototype and identify the important modifications that would provide the desired competitive edge. The depth and accuracy of results that simulation tools from ANSYS can offer is required if a designer expects to model the complexity of flow patterns that involve intricate turbulent behaviors in water and air or the advanced composite structures now frequently incorporated into the design of new sporting equipment. Recently with the launch of Speedo's 2008 LZR Racer swimsuit, designed using software from ANSYS, technology has once again demonstrated how having a better understanding of the role that sporting equipment plays in athletic success leads to the attainment of new heights in the world of sports. |
Pathlines showing the complex boundary layer separation behind the swimmer's hand and arm.
Pathlines in the wake of the oar show recirculating flow emanating from the inside edge and smoothly varying flow issuing from the outer edge.
For these two yachts racing downwind, the surface pressure contours for the boat on the left depict higher pressures on the sails while those seen for the boat on the right are lower, illustrating how the boat on the left successfully captures the wind in its sails and functionally inhibits the success of the boat on the right
Water volume fraction contours on the top of the board surface with the free-surface around the board. |
