Aerodynamics of Australian rules football - An experimental and computational study

Airflow around a sport ball plays a significant role in perfonnance as it influences the speed, motion, trajectory and ultimately place of landing of the ball. Despite the popularity of games such as the Australian Rules Foot ball, there appears to be scant research on ball aerodynamics. Therefore, the primary objectives of this work were to study the aerodynamic properties of an Australian Rules foot ball as a function of wind speeds and yaw angles using experimental and computational methods. The average drag and side forces coefficients for a range of speeds and yaw angles were determined and compared. The flow pattern around the AFL ball was visualized using wool tuft and smoke. No significant variation in Reynolds numbers was found in CFD results however, some variations were noted for experimental fmdings. The average drag coefficient of an AFL ball at zero yaw was 0.11 and 0.14 in experimental and computational studies and this rose to about 0.57 and 0.65 when yawed at 90 degrees respectively.