Suited for performance

Abstract

During the big Tour de France time trial on the 15th of July 2016, Tom Dumoulin was cycling in a new suit, developed jointly by Team Giant-Alpecin and TU Delft. [TUDelft 2016] The drag of different suits was optimized in the Delft wind tunnel. However, as one can't place a professional cyclist in a wind tunnel for weeks on end. For this, a 3D printed mannequin with the exact same physical measurements was made. An essential benefit using an exact replica in the wind tunnel is that it remains perfectly still, making the measurements of the airflows around the body much quicker and more accurate. Additive manufacturing was not chosen as easiest option, it lead to a collection of research opportunities. The process includes scanning, 3D segmenting, printing strategy and printing, assembling and testing. The complete process wasdone in less then 2,5 months.