Analysis of Cristiano Ronaldo’s Free Kick using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)

Prashanth S. Shankara

2018

Abstract

The aerodynamics of football has come into prominence in the last decade with the advent of new ball designs, particularly for the world cup. Significant work into the behaviour of a football has been conducted through wind tunnel tests and computational fluid dynamics (CFD). In this study, the now-famous free kick from Cristiano Ronaldo against Spain in the recent World Cup was studied using transient Detached Eddy Simulation (DES) methods in the CFD code, Simcenter™ STAR-CCM+™. Simulations were performed on the Telstar 18 ball from the 2018 tournament and the Jabulani ball from 2010, both for the free kick and a knuckleball scenario. Side forces suggested that the Jabulani would have curved more towards the goalkeeper, offering a chance for the kick to be stopped. Knuckle ball simulations suggested stable behaviour for Telstar compared to instability on the Jabulani. Simulations were also compared against wind tunnel data from literature to validate the methodology. The results show that ball type and behaviour is often a factor in the type of kick attempted, player confidence in execution and ultimately the outcome of the game.

Paper Citation

in Harvard Style

Shankara P. (2018). Analysis of Cristiano Ronaldo’s Free Kick using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD).In IcSPORTS 2018 - Extended Abstracts - Volume 1: icSPORTS, ISBN , pages 40-43

in Bibtex Style

@conference{icsports18,
author={Prashanth S. Shankara},
title={Analysis of Cristiano Ronaldo’s Free Kick using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)},
booktitle={IcSPORTS 2018 - Extended Abstracts - Volume 1: icSPORTS,},
year={2018},
pages={40-43},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={},
isbn={},
}

in EndNote Style

TY - CONF

JO - IcSPORTS 2018 - Extended Abstracts - Volume 1: icSPORTS,
TI - Analysis of Cristiano Ronaldo’s Free Kick using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)
SN -
AU - Shankara P.
PY - 2018
SP - 40
EP - 43
DO -