Aerodynamic Development of a Road Cycling

Helmet: Breakaway with CFD

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• Louis Garneau offers a cycling solution which

includes a one stop shop for all your cycling needs.

ENGINEERING

SIMULATION

CFD FEA

Goal:

Design the most aerodynamic

cycling helmet for road racing

without compromising ventilation

CFD of existing helmets

3D CAD CFD/CAD iterations

Rapid Prototyping

Wind tunnel testing

Tooling

Design Process

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Analysis of existing helmets

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Specialized Prevail LGS X-Lite

LGS Quartz Giro Aeon

Analysis of existing helmets

V CdA

LGS Quartz

42 km/hr

0.0105

LGS X-Lite 0.0115

Giro Aeon 0.0134

Specialized

Prevail

0.0098

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LGS X-Lite

Ideas for improvement

• Design helmet with

respect to head angle

• Reduce frontal area

by allowing air straight

through;

• Adjust tail angle;

• Adjust bridges angles;

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LGS Quartz

3D CAD

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3D CAD

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Scan + 3D CAD

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CFD Analysis Set-up

• 31 million elements

• Steady state

• Spalart-Almaras

• Low-Reynolds wall

– 15 layers

– Y+ <= 1

• 42 km/hr

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CFD Analysis: Virtual Wind tunnel

CFD Analysis: Virtual Wind tunnel

CFD Analysis: Virtual Wind tunnel

CFD Analysis: Virtual Wind tunnel

CFD Analysis: Virtual Wind tunnel

Achievements

• 17.7% drag reduction compared to

best helmet tested

• Reduced frontal area

• Increased ventilation

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Benefits of CFD

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PERFORMANCE

Wind Tunnel Testing: NRC

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Wind Tunnel Testing Results

29 -3,0%

-2,0%

-1,0%

0,0%

1,0%

2,0%

3,0%

4,0%

5,0%

Course Quartz Edge Diamond S-WorksPrevail

Giro Aeon Giro Atmos CatlikeWhisper

LazerHelium

ChronoLegera

Pe

rfo

rman

ce in

cre

ase

Performance increase w/r to LGS Quartz

Wind Tunnel Testing:

Course VS GIRO Air Attack

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Wind Tunnel Testing Results

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Team Europcar

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Thank you!

Questions?