ENGINEERINGNET.EU -- When worn together as a complete system, a Fastskin suit, cap and goggle can reduce full-body passive drag by up to 16.6 percent, improve oxygen economy by up to 11 percent (enabling the athlete to swim stronger for longer), and reduce active body drag by up to 5.2 percent, claims its developer Speedo.
“Engineering simulation has been absolutely critical in launching this concept,” said Tom Waller, head of Speedo’s in-house global research and development facility, Aqualab. “For the first time, competitive swimmers can use a cohesive, hydrodynamic solution that will help them cut through the water with maximum efficiency.”
In engineering the three components into a system, Speedo’s in-house global research and development facility, Aqualab, used data from more than 1,200 separate simulations conducted with multiphysics software (from Ansys).
By replicating the dynamic pressures of competitive swimming in a risk-free virtual design environment, these simulations helped engineers to minimize the effects of turbulence and drag, mitigate the impact force generated by a dive, maximize the structural strength of the goggle assembly, and address other real-world design concerns.
Following the design work, Speedo conducted a number of pool tests of the new racing system, using professional athletes including Natalie Coughlin, Ryan Lochte and Michael Phelps of the United States.
Development of the racing system relied on an expanded, multiphysics perspective that included both fluid dynamics and structural mechanics analyses. For the goggles, for example, the software offered insight about the structural forces that impact the equipment from all directions, which lightweight material would be able to withstand those forces, and how the shape generated turbulence that could negatively impact the swimmer’s downstream performance.
BACKGROUND
Founded in 1970, Ansys employs more than 2,200 professionals, many of them experts in engineering fields such as finite element analysis, computational fluid dynamics, electronics and electromagnetics, and design optimization.
