News of the Australasian Fluid Mechanics Society

National Industry PhD Program Scholarship: Track Cycling Measurement System

Adelaide University

Track cycling is a high-profile Olympic and Paralympic sport, featuring over 32 medal events at the Paris 2024 Games. Australia is a leading nation but maintaining competitiveness for Los Angeles 2028 and Brisbane 2032 will require advances in knowledge and technology, particularly in aerodynamics. Coaches need accurate, real-time measurements of a rider’s drag area (CdA), which quantifies aerodynamic efficiency, to optimise performance during training. However, current systems are significantly affected by air movement within the velodrome, leading to inaccurate results.

This project addresses this limitation by measuring air velocity ahead of each rider in real time, enabling precise CdA calculation during training. We aim to develop a velodrome-based track cycling training and drag analysis system that does not require specialized hardware to be fitted to riders or bicycles, improving accuracy, reducing cost and minimizing delays during training sessions. Current systems, typically employing a single air-speed sensor attached to the bicycle, do not capture the complex, turbulent air movements ahead of each cyclist. The new system will couple high-fidelity air movement measurements at track level with a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model to determine the detailed flow field ahead of each rider, thereby providing enhanced-accuracy, real-time measurements of the flow impacting the cyclist.

This industry PhD project will be undertaken in collaboration with Adjunct Professor Richard Kelso of the School of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering and research specialists at AusCycling Ltd.

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Closing Date: Monday, 30^th November 2026