Aerodynamics of fluttering textiles for sports applications

Engineering of Sport 15 - Proceedings from the 15th International Conference on the Engineering of Sport (ISEA 2024)

Ski cross rules require baggy clothing, however, loose and fluttering sports garments increase the drag coefficient CD. Chua et al.  (2011) examined three fabrics with areal densities ρ of 185- 235 g/m2 and four different looseness ratios (λ = 1-1.5). Neither ρ nor λ led to a significant variation of the CD [1]. The aim of this study was to investigate whether larger differences in ρ and flexural rigidity B of the fabrics cause a variation in the CD.