ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the effects of athlete’s posture (including bending angle of upper body and angle between body and skis) on aerodynamic characteristics during flight in ski jumping. Methods The athlete and skis were regarded as a multi-body system. By using partially averaged Navier-Stokes (PANS) turbulence model and numerical simulation of computational fluid dynamics (CFD), the aerodynamic characteristics during flight under different postures were predicted. The calculation conditions for bending angle of upper body were 10°, 14°, 18°, 22° and 26°, and the calculation conditions of angle between body and skis were 8°, 12°, 16°, 20° and 24°. Results As the bending angle of upper body increased, the lift force and drag force of the multi-body system, the athlete and skis, and the pitch moment of skis all showed a monotonously decreasing trend, but the ratio of total lift force to total drag force increased first and then decreased. Meanwhile, the pitch moment of the multi-body system decreased first and then increased, and the pitch moment of athlete increased slightly and then decreased. As the angle between body and skis increased, the lift force and drag force of the multi-body system and skis increased first, then decreased and then increased, but the ratio of total lift force to total drag force decreased first, then increased and then decreased. Meanwhile, the lift force, drag force and pitch moment of the athlete increased monotonously, and the pitch moment of the multi-body system and the skis increased first and then decreased. The effect of bending angle of upper body on aerodynamic characteristics during flight in ski jumping was generally significantly larger than that of angle between body and skis. Conclusions The optimal range for bending angle of upper body is 14°-18°, and the optimal range of angle between body and skis is 16°-20°. The influence mechanism for bending angle of upper body and angle between body and skis on aerodynamic characteristics during flight in ski jumping can provide effective auxiliary support for on-the-spot prediction and decisionmaking,