Aerodynamics Analysis of Speed Skating Helmets: Investigation by CFD Simulations

In this work, we investigate the flow field around speed skating helmets and their associated aerodynamic drag by means of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. An existing helmet frequently used in competition was taken as a baseline. Six additional designs, well bare-head configuration, were analysed. All numerical simulations performed via 3D RANS using SST k-ω turbulence model. The results show that use always reduces with respect to bare head configuration. Besides, an optimised design enables reduction skaters 5.9%, 1.6% baseline Omega helmet.