Author(s): Forte, Pedro ; Marinho, D.A. ; Neiva, Henrique P. ; Sampaio, Tatiana ; Teixeira, José Eduardo ; Branquinho, Luís ; Silva, A.J. ; Monteiro, A.M. ; Barbosa, Tiago M.
Date: 2024
Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10198/30940
Origin: Biblioteca Digital do IPB
Subject(s): Cycling; CFD; Able-bodied; Drag; Paralímpic; Research Subject Categories::INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH AREAS::Sports
This study aimed to analyse the aerodynamics by numerical simulations with computer fluid dynamics of an ablebodied cyclist and a shoulder-amputee cyclist. An elite cyclist volunteered for this research; the cyclist was scanned with his competition gear and bicycle and the able-bodied and shoulder amputee 3D cyclists models were created. Numerical simulations were conducted between 1 m/s and 13 m/s (with increments of 1 m/s) with the fluent code. The effective surface area (ACd) varied between 0.38 and 0.59 m2 for the able-bodied cyclist; whereas, for the shoulder amputee, it varied between 0.29 m2 and 0.62 m2. The ACd difference between the able-bodied and the amputee ranged from 3% to 28% and the drag differed between 2% and 19%. The drag coefficient ranged between 0.55 and 0.84 for the able-bodied and from 0.45 and 0.92 for the shoulder-amputee. The drag ranged across the different velocities (1-13 m/s) from 0.36 N – 39.25 N for the ablebodied cyclist and for the shoulder-amputee between 0.38 N – 31.69 N. The two cyclist models presented significant differences and small effect sizes (t = 2.720; p = 0.019; d = 0.18). The linear regression models computed the drag differences between the able-bodied and the disabled cyclist; a significant relationship and very high effect sizes for drag (R2 = 0.997; R2a = 0.995; SEE = 0.996; p < 0.001) were observed. This study allowed us to conclude that the shoulder-amputee cyclist presents a lower drag compared to the able-bodied one.
