Applicability of Drag Equation on a Dimpled Golf Ball using Changing Wind Velocities

Abstract

The drag equation is commonly used to relate the resistance force experienced by an object traveling through fluids with its velocity. The pattern might vary based on the specific geometry of the objects (e.g., a dimpled golf ball). The dimples are known to reduce the amount of drag during the ball’s flight through a series of complex aerodynamic processes. To investigate the ball’s drag pattern, pressure and air velocity on the golf ball, a CFD using Ansys fluent is performed to simulate its aerodynamic features under nine different wind velocities. After the experiment, it was found that the relationship between the drag and velocity of the dimpled golf ball still generally conforms to the drag equation. The pressure and velocity distributions are consistent with the hypothesis, while the aerodynamic details are presented. The effect of dimples is also visualized, contributing to the flow demonstration. The investigation is valuable because the aerodynamic process of the dimpled sphere structure in changing wind velocities is well presented and analyzed, and it inspires further explorations on the aerodynamic effects of the dimple geometry.