Wang Jiatao, President of our college: Research on Sports Drag Reduction Helps Winter Olympic Athletes "Faster" and "Stronger"

The vast majority of the Winter Olympics are racing events, and the improvement of the performance of racing events is crucial to the improvement of the overall level of the Winter Olympics. Recently, Professor Wang Jiadao, head of the key technology and platform research project of resistance reduction in winter sports, director of the Department of Mechanical Engineering of Tsinghua University, and dean of Tianjin High-end equipment Research Institute of Tsinghua University, introduced the research and development of resistance reduction science, skills and equipment in ice and snow racing projects from the perspective of scientific resistance reduction.
Wang Jiatao said that the national key research and development plan "Science and Technology Winter Olympics" has specially carried out key research projects on key technologies and platforms for resistance reduction in winter sports. Based on the construction of sports wind tunnels, aerodynamic and friction resistance evaluation equipment, a technical research and support platform for the sustainable development of world-class racing sports has been formed. In addition, research has been carried out on aerodynamic and ice and snow surface friction reduction for winter racing events. Theoretical and key technological breakthroughs have been made in the fields of attitude optimization, equipment resistance reduction and friction regulation. Drag reduction equipment such as snowmobiles, helmets and skateboards and wax have been developed to achieve substantial drag reduction for winter Olympic racing events and help athletes achieve "higher" and "faster" goals.
According to reports, racing events rely on speed to win. In the process of ice and snow sports, speed will produce relative movement with the air, and wind will be felt. This part of the wind will produce resistance, called wind resistance. At the same time, to exercise, you must have relative motion with the ground. In ice and snow events, the ground is either ice or snow, and ice and snow will produce frictional resistance. These two parts of resistance constitute the total resistance in the process of moving forward. Sports drag reduction is mainly through the reduction of air resistance and ice and snow friction resistance, to improve the performance of athletes.
During exercise, athletes are moving and the air is still. It is not easy to measure resistance at this time. Wang Jidao said that by building a wind tunnel, let the athletes do not move, let the air flow. The wind tunnel is built in a closed environment. Through a large fan, the wind is moved. At this time, the people in it do not move, which can also cause the wind field in the process of movement. "For example, in skating and skiing, the resistance of athletes in the air can be tested in the wind tunnel, and their physiological and biochemical indicators can also be monitored."
Wang Jiadao said that athletes will maintain a comparative advantage in the process of moving forward, and the air resistance generated by this posture is relatively small. Through the wind tunnel drag reduction test, the optimization scheme is put forward, and the athletes combine their own ability to optimize their posture. Through intensive training, the forward speed can be significantly improved.
There are two requirements for ice skates in ice sports. One is that the friction resistance in the forward direction of sliding should be small, and the other is that the forward power should be large when pedaling, so that it can slide far. However, these two points are contradictory in many cases, what should we do? Wang Jiadao introduced that in order to take into account both aspects, the skates are made into a sandwich-like structure, so that the two sides of the skates have high hardness and the middle hardness is slightly lower. In this way, during the side sliding process of the ice skate, the ice blade is relatively sharp and wear-resistant, thereby improving the lateral pedaling force and reducing the friction resistance. It is estimated that the pedaling rate can be increased by 20%-30%, and the friction resistance can be reduced by about 10%.
"The Winter Olympics and other large-scale sports events, the competition is not only the athletes' technical ability, but also the level of science and technology of each country. Such as the wind tunnel, it reflects the strength of a country. Another example is the equipment, due to the improvement of the level of science and technology, athletes can use better equipment, in the field can occupy a certain advantage. This is also the charm of the science and technology Winter Olympics." Wang Jiadao said.






 

Reprinted | People's Sports