TY - JOUR
T1 - Aerodynamic drag in cycling team time trials
AU - Blocken, Bert
AU - Toparlar, Yasin
AU - van Druenen, Thijs
AU - Andrianne, Thomas
PY - 2018/11/1
Y1 - 2018/11/1
N2 - In a team time trial (TTT), the main strategy is based on drafting, where team members alternately take the lead while others ride behind the leading cyclist. TTTs can contain up to 9 riders of the same team. To the best of our knowledge, systematic aerodynamic studies of drafting groups from 2 up to 9 riders have not yet been published. Therefore, this paper presents such an analysis for up to 9 drafting cyclists in a single paceline, with wheel-to-wheel spacings d = 0.05, 0.15, 0.5, 1 and 5 m. A total of 47 Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations are performed with the 3D RANS equations, standard k-ε model and scalable wall functions and validated with wind-tunnel measurements. In groups of up to 5 identical riders with d up to 1 m, the last rider has the lowest drag but this is not the case for larger groups. A closely drafting group of 7, 8 or 9 riders has an average drag that is about half that of an isolated rider. However, for much longer theoretical single pacelines, a staggered peloton configuration can yet be about two times more drag efficient.
AB - In a team time trial (TTT), the main strategy is based on drafting, where team members alternately take the lead while others ride behind the leading cyclist. TTTs can contain up to 9 riders of the same team. To the best of our knowledge, systematic aerodynamic studies of drafting groups from 2 up to 9 riders have not yet been published. Therefore, this paper presents such an analysis for up to 9 drafting cyclists in a single paceline, with wheel-to-wheel spacings d = 0.05, 0.15, 0.5, 1 and 5 m. A total of 47 Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations are performed with the 3D RANS equations, standard k-ε model and scalable wall functions and validated with wind-tunnel measurements. In groups of up to 5 identical riders with d up to 1 m, the last rider has the lowest drag but this is not the case for larger groups. A closely drafting group of 7, 8 or 9 riders has an average drag that is about half that of an isolated rider. However, for much longer theoretical single pacelines, a staggered peloton configuration can yet be about two times more drag efficient.
KW - Aerodynamic cyclist drag
KW - Computational fluid dynamics
KW - Cycling aerodynamics
KW - Numerical simulation
KW - Team time trial
KW - Wind tunnel
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85054669316&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jweia.2018.09.015
DO - 10.1016/j.jweia.2018.09.015
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85054669316
SN - 0167-6105
VL - 182
SP - 128
EP - 145
JO - Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics
JF - Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics
ER -