A generalized immersed boundary framework for flow simulations in sports applications
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The immersed boundary methods have today become indispensable in simulating flows around arbitrarily shaped geometries. However, their extension to handle complex geometries with large deformations remains non-trivial. In this work, we present a generalized IBM-based simulation framework, aimed at sports applications with significant geometric deformations and complex kinematics, such as ski jumping, swimming, and competitive cycling. Our framework consists of three integral components: Data Collection: We perform field experiments to capture motion data and body scans of athletes, creating very accurate digital twins that reflect the individual anatomical characteristics of each. Kinematic Modeling: Projection of motion capture data onto digital twins allows the creation of time-resolved kinematic models capable of representing large nonlinear deformations in the motions of athletes. Computational Simulation: Integration of kinematics models into locally resolved mesh based IBM-CFD solver that can handle complex boundary conditions due to the time-dependent deformations of the geometry. The simulation framework is validated for swimming and ski-jump applications and it application to a first of a kind simulation of ski jumping—from take-off to landing—and self-propelled underwater undulatory swimming. These applications involve intricate coupling between fluid dynamics and large-scale body deformations, underscoring the framework's capability to handle challenging coupled problems.