Golf Ball Dimple Patterns Using Irregular Polyhedral Tessellation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing golf ball dimple patterns struggle to achieve optimal aerodynamic symmetry and surface coverage, leading to suboptimal performance in terms of aerodynamic efficiency and flight stability, as they are limited by the use of geometric shapes that result in less than optimal surface coverage and disadvantageous dimple arrangements.
Innovation Solution
The method involves generating irregular domains based on polyhedrons, specifically using the midpoint to midpoint method to create and tessellate these domains on the surface of a golf ball, allowing for a uniform dimple pattern that covers the surface with greater than 50% spherical dimples, each with a circular plan shape and specific edge angles, and varying dimple patterns within different domains to achieve improved symmetry and surface coverage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If dimple patterns are based on geometric shapes (circles, hexagons, triangles) or Platonic/Archimedian solids, then aerodynamic symmetry is improved, but surface coverage becomes suboptimal and dimple arrangements are disadvantageous
Solution Approach 1:
The golf ball surface is segmented into multiple irregular domains, each containing a specific number and arrangement of dimples. These domains are then tessellated across the entire surface, allowing for both local optimization of dimple patterns and global coverage of the surface area.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs irregular domains with asymmetric boundaries rather than symmetric geometric shapes. These irregular domains, when tessellated, create a pattern that achieves aerodynamic symmetry at the global level while allowing optimal surface coverage and dimple arrangement at the local level.
2Loss of energy
If the number of dimples is increased to improve aerodynamic efficiency, then drag reduction is improved, but manufacturing complexity and pattern design difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
A single irregular domain design serves as a universal template that can be tessellated across the entire golf ball surface. This universal domain contains an optimized arrangement of dimples for drag reduction, and its repetition ensures consistent aerodynamic performance across all regions without requiring complex unique patterns for each area.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates multiple identical copies of a single irregular domain and tessellates them across the golf ball surface. This copying approach simplifies manufacturing by standardizing the dimple pattern while achieving comprehensive surface coverage and optimized aerodynamic characteristics through the repeated pattern.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enhances the aerodynamic efficiency and flight stability of golf balls by providing a high-order symmetrical surface coverage, minimizing the appearance of parting lines, and allowing for greater flexibility in dimple arrangement, resulting in improved aerodynamic characteristics and performance.
Implementation Method 1
Drag is opposite in sense to the direction of flight and orthogonal to lift. The drag force on a ball is attributed to parasitic drag forces, which consist of pressure drag and viscous or skin friction drag.
Implementation Method 2
dimples provide a means to energize the flow field and delay the separation of flow, or reduce the wake region behind the ball
Implementation Method 3
Lift force is perpendicular to the direction of flight and is a result of air velocity differences above and below the rotating ball. This phenomenon is attributed to Magnus, who described it in 1853 after studying the aerodynamic forces on spinning spheres and cylinders
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention provides a method for arranging dimples on a golf ball surface in which the dimples are arranged in a pattern derived from at least one irregular domain generated from a regular or non-regular polyhedron. The method includes choosing control points of a polyhedron, generating an irregular domain based on those control points, packing the irregular domain with dimples, and tessellating the irregular domain to cover the surface of the golf ball. The control points include the center of a polyhedral face, a vertex of the polyhedron, a midpoint or other point on an edge of the polyhedron and others. The method ensures that the symmetry of the underlying polyhedron is preserved while minimizing or eliminating great circles due to parting lines.