INTERMEDIATE FLUID MECHANICS
Dynamics of sports balls
Benoit Cushman-Roisin
Thayer School of Engineering
Dartmouth College
See: Kundu et al., 2012
Section 9.9 (pages 395-399)
-5/4
for sphere
Not so different for the flow around a sphere.
1
Zone of typical
operation of a
golf ball
Transition to
turbulence
at Re = 5 x 105
Cricket ball:
The seam effect
82O
pA < pB
125O
2
Tennis ball:
The spin effect
Same dynamics for soccer balls.
Baseball:
Both seam (“knuckleball) and spin (“curveball”) effects
3
Football
4