Wang Jiadao, head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering of Tsinghua University and dean of our college, developed a drag-reducing helmet to help the Chinese short-track speed skating team achieve good results in the Winter Olympics.

At the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, the Chinese short track speed skating team won a total of 2 golds, 1 silver and 1 bronze. At the end of the competition, we will focus on the important equipment of speed skaters-helmets.
 

Chinese player Wu Dajing (left) during the competition on February 11.
Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Ma Ning

 

The helmet worn by Wu Dajing is called "Sun Dasheng, the God of War of China", and the helmet worn by Qu Chunyu is called "Eerie Dragon"... Their helmets in the Winter Olympics are extremely Chinese, not only majestic, but also full of technology.
For short track speed skating, helmets, as necessary equipment to protect the personal safety of athletes, have an important impact on the wind resistance of athletes. In previous years, China's short-track speed skating helmets were completely dependent on imports. Common ones, such as the 2010 short-tailed helmets and the 2013 tapless helmets, failed to optimize the speed characteristics of Chinese athletes.
However, as the average speed and finishing results of more and more powerful athletes are steadily improving, the Wang Jiandao team of the State Key Laboratory of Tribology of Tsinghua University's Department of Mechanical Engineering, which undertakes the research and development task of "Key Technologies and Platforms for Drag Reduction in Winter Sports", a key project of "Science and Technology Winter Olympics", has been appointed to develop optimized helmets for drag reduction at the typical speed of Chinese athletes.
The Wang Jiatao team modeled the 2010 and 2013 helmets selected by the national team by 3D scanning, and then analyzed the aerodynamic resistance and flow field characteristics through computational fluid dynamics simulation. Based on the mechanism of micro-structure pressure difference drag reduction, the team designed the aerodynamic drag reduction optimization scheme of the short track helmet, and realized the surface treatment of the helmet through flexible structure preparation technology. Finally, the wind resistance evaluation was completed in the comprehensive wind tunnel of Erqi Training Base using 3D printed manikin. The final finalized drag reduction helmet has a maximum drag reduction rate of 8% compared with the helmet used by the national short track speed skating team in Pingchang Winter Olympics.
Before the start of the competition, the drag reduction helmet was determined to be the equipment for the national team of short track speed skating. The Wang Jiatao team mobilized all of them and rushed to work 24 hours a day. It took only 5 days to complete the preparation of 30 drag reduction helmets with high quality, and sent special personnel to escort them to Suzhou for spray painting, and finally delivered them to the national team, successfully completing the scientific and technological support work.




 

Source | Science and Technology Daily
Reprinted | Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tsinghua University