Estimation of mechanical power and energy cost in elite wheelchair racing by analytical procedures and numerical simulations |
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| Authors: | Pedro Forte Daniel A. Marinho Jorge E. Morais Pedro G. Morouço Tiago M. Barbosa |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Sport Sciences, University of Beira Interior, Covilh?, Portugal;2. Research Centre in Sports, Health and Human Development, Covilh?, Portugal;3. pedromiguelforte@gmail.com;5. Research Centre in Sports, Health and Human Development, Covilh?, Portugal;6. Department of Sport Sciences, Polytechnic Institute of Bragan?a, Bragan?a, Portugal;7. Department of Sport Sciences, Polytechnic Institute of Leiria, Leiria, Portugal;8. Centre for Rapid and Sustainable Product Development, Leiria, Portugal;9. National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore |
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| Abstract: | AbstractThe aim was to compare the mechanical power and energy cost of an elite wheelchair sprinter in the key-moments of the stroke cycle. The wheelchair-athlete system was 3D scanned and then computational fluid dynamics was used to estimate the drag force. Mechanical power and energy cost were derived from a set of formulae. The effective area in the catch, release and recovery phases were 0.41 m2, 0.33 m2 and 0.24 m2, respectively. Drag increased with speed and varied across the key-moments. The catch required the highest total power (range: 62.76–423.46 W), followed-up by the release (61.50–407.85 W) and the recovery (60.09–363.89 W). |
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| Keywords: | Drag kinetics paralympics power output sprinting |
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