The aerodynamic characteristics of a modern road cycling wheel in cross wind are studied through force- and planar PIV measurements in the TU Delft Open Jet Facility. The performance of the 62 mm deep rim is evaluated for three tire profiles, and yaw angles up to 24°. All measurements are executed at 12.5 m/s (45 km/h) freestream- and wheel-rotational velocity. The wheel's rim-tire section in crosswind is found to behave similar to an airfoil at incidence, ultimately resulting in a reduction of the wheel's aerodynamic resistance with increasing yaw angle magnitude. This phenomenon, also referred to as the sail-effect, is limited by the stall angle of the tire-rim profile. The stall angle is found to depend critically on the tire's surface structure. Larger stall angles, resulting in lower resistance, are obtained if the tire profile triggers laminar-to-turbulent boundary layer transition.

Abstract: A method to identify the surface of solid models immersed in fluid flows is devised that examines the spatial distribution of flow tracers. The fluid–solid interface is associated with the distance from the center of a circle to the centroid of the tracers ensemble captured within it. The theoretical foundation of the method is presented for 2D planar interfaces in the limit of a continuous tracer distribution. The discrete regime is analyzed, yielding the uncertainty of this estimator. Also the errors resulting from curved interfaces are discussed. The method's working principle is illustrated using synthetic data of a 2D cambered airfoil, showing that one of the limitations is the treatment of an object thinner than the search circle diameter. The method is readily adapted to 3D and applied to the 3D PTV data of the flow around a juncture. The surface is reconstructed within the expected uncertainty, and specific limitations, such as the smoothing of sharp edges is observed. Graphic abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.].

An experimental approach for the measurement of the time-average fluid flow pressure over the surface of generic three-dimensional objects is presented. The method is based on robotic volumetric PTV measurements followed by the integration of the pressure gradient. The domain for pressure evaluation is subdivided in two parts: in the irrotational region the static pressure is obtained following Bernoulli relation; in the turbulent wake and close to the object the pressure gradient is integrated. An approach based on the total pressure distribution is proposed to estimate the boundary between these two regions. The method is first assessed with experiments around a sphere equipped with pressure taps. A criterion for minimum spatial resolution is formulated in terms of maximum ratio between bin size and local radius of curvature of the object. An experimental database from a three-dimensional problem of higher geometrical complexity is considered: the time-averaged flow field around a full-scale cyclist. The surface pressure distribution is discussed in connection to the topological features of near-surface streamlines and streamwise vortices.

This study describes the working principles of the coaxial volumetric velocimeter (CVV) for wind tunnel measurements. The measurement system is derived from the concept of tomographic PIV in combination with recent developments of Lagrangian particle tracking. The main characteristic of the CVV is its small tomographic aperture and the coaxial arrangement between the illumination and imaging directions. The system consists of a multi-camera arrangement subtending only few degrees solid angle and a long focal depth. Contrary to established PIV practice, laser illumination is provided along the same direction as that of the camera views, reducing the optical access requirements to a single viewing direction. The laser light is expanded to illuminate the full field of view of the cameras. Such illumination and imaging conditions along a deep measurement volume dictate the use of tracer particles with a large scattering area. In the present work, helium-filled soap bubbles are used. The fundamental principles of the CVV in terms of dynamic velocity and spatial range are discussed. Maximum particle image density is shown to limit tracer particle seeding concentration and instantaneous spatial resolution. Time-averaged flow fields can be obtained at high spatial resolution by ensemble averaging. The use of the CVV for time-averaged measurements is demonstrated in two wind tunnel experiments. After comparing the CVV measurements with the potential flow in front of a sphere, the near-surface flow around a complex wind tunnel model of a cyclist is measured. The measurements yield the volumetric time-averaged velocity and vorticity field. The measurements of the streamlines in proximity of the surface give an indication of the skin-friction lines pattern, which is of use in the interpretation of the surface flow topology.

A novel approach to the measurement of large-scale complex aerodynamic flows is presented, based on the combination of coaxial volumetric velocimetry and robotics. Volumetric flow field measurements are obtained to determine the time-averaged properties of the velocity field developing around a three-dimensional full-scale reproduction of a professional cyclist. The working principles of robotic volumetric PIV are discussed on the basis of its main components: helium-filled soap bubbles as tracers; the compact coaxial volumetric velocimeter; a collaborative 6 degrees of freedom robot arm; particle image analysis based on Shake-the-Box algorithm and ensemble statistics to yield data on a Cartesian mesh in the physical domain. The spatial range covered by the robotic velocimeter and its aerodynamic invasiveness are characterised. The system has the potential to perform volumetric measurements in a domain of several cubic metres. The application to the very complex geometry of a full-scale cyclist in time-trial position is performed in a large aerodynamic wind tunnel at a flow speed of 14 m/s. The flow velocity in the near field of the cyclist body is gathered through 450 independent views encompassing a measurement volume of approximately 2 m³. The measurements include hidden regions between the arms and the legs, otherwise very difficult to access by conventional planar or tomographic PIV. The time-averaged velocity field depicts the main flow topology in terms of stagnation points and lines, separation and reattachment lines, trailing vortices and free shear layers. The wall boundary layers developing on the body surface hide below the level resolvable by the present measurements.