Analysis of wall shear stress around a competitive swimmer using 3D Navier-Stokes equations in CFD.

This paper deals with the flow dynamics around a competitive swimmer during underwater glide phases occurring at the start and at every turn. The influence of the head position, namely lifted up, aligned and lowered, on the wall shear stress and the static pressure distributions is analyzed. The problem is considered as 3D and in steady hydrodynamic state. Three velocities (1.4 m/s, 2.2 m/s and 3.1 m/s) that correspond to inter-regional, national and international swimming levels are studied. The flow around the swimmer is assumed turbulent. The Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations are solved with the standard k-ω turbulent model by using the CFD (computational fluid dynamics) numerical method based on a volume control approach. Numerical simulations are carried out with the ANSYS FLUENT® CFD code. The results show that the wall shear stress increases with the velocity and consequently the drag force opposing the movement of the swimmer increases as well. Also, high wall shear stresses are observed in the areas where the body shape, globally rigid in form, presents complex surface geometries such as the head, shoulders, buttocks, heel and chest.