A Comparative Study of Rugby Ball Aerodynamics

The aerodynamic behaviour of a Rugby ball is complex and significantly differs from spherical sports balls due to their complex ellipsoidal shapes. Although prior aerodynamic studies have been conducted on soccer, tennis, cricket and golf balls, scant information about the Rugby ball is available in the public domain. In order to understand the aerodynamic properties of Rugby ball, experimental and computational studies have been undertaken for a range of speeds and yaw angles. The airflow around Rugby ball was visualized and the average drag coefficients were determined and compared. Minor Reynolds number sensitivity at zero yaw angle was found in the experimental studies. However, significant Reynolds number variations were noted at yaw angles between 75 degrees to 85 degrees. In contrast, no major Reynolds number dependency was found in the CFD results for both balls.