This project has focused on aerodynamics in hand cycling. Hand cycles are used by people with disabilities, paralysis or amputation of a lower limb. The idea for the project was initiated by a para-cyclist who suspected that his feet were causing an unnecessarily large air resistance when racing. The aim of this project was therefore to investigate this suspicion. If the excessive air resistance was confirmed, a new footrest would be developed to reduce it. The project was conducted in collaboration with the orthopedic clinic Team Olmed who had previously had contact with the user. Simulations on the feet were carried out in FloEFD to investigate the air resistance caused by the feet. Any excessive air resistance could then be confirmed and the development of a new footrest that would reduce drag could begin. Through literature studies regarding aerodynamics and analogies, brainstorming and brainwriting and with help from experts different concepts were generated. The concept of a streamlined footrest served as a basis to reduce the air resistance. Two of the concepts were modeled with a rounded shape that gently breaks the air and forms a streamline along the body. New simulations were conducted and later compared with the old footrest and the new streamline characteristics could then be confirmed. The result of the post simulations cannot be definitively quantified, but they indicate that air resistance is reduced by about 0,3 N for the two new footrests. This represents an improvement of 12-15 seconds for the cyclist on a 20 km race, which could be crucial in future competitions. The concept that provided the lowest air resistance was also developed as a prototype. The prototype was tested on the user's bicycle and feet with a satisfactory result. The project shows that it is relevant to develop more aerodynamic footrests in the sport hand- cycling. The time saved with the footrest developed in this project had meant the difference between victory and a fourth place at the Paralympics in 2008.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:hh-31205 |
| Date | January 2016 |
| Creators | Edman, Fredrik, Jansson, Jonathan |
| Publisher | Högskolan i Halmstad, Akademin för ekonomi, teknik och naturvetenskap, Högskolan i Halmstad, Akademin för ekonomi, teknik och naturvetenskap |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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