Impact of javelin point geometry on aerodynamic performance and flight distance

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

Different types of javelin exist. Two common types are the pointed-nosed and blunt-nosed javelin. These javelins can be identical except for the shape of the nose. Different statements have been made concerning the performance of these javelins. Some have indicated that the pointed-nosed javelin would always be more aerodynamic than the blunt-nosed javelin and would therefore allow superior performance in terms of flight distance. However, a pioneer in javelin design has repeatedly declared that the blunt-nosed javelin would be superior over the pointed-nosed javelin in terms of flight distance, but only under tailwind conditions.  As a result, this javelin was termed the “tailwind javelin”. Although recently some new statements have emerged that the blunt-nosed javelin would be superior under all conditions (tailwind, no wind and headwind), to the best of our knowledge, no scientific evidence of any of these statements has been reported in the scientific literature. Therefore, the present authors have applied numerical simulation with computational fluid dynamics (CFD), validated by wind-tunnel tests, to shed more light on the aerodynamic characteristics and the flight performance of these two javelin types.