Golf Ball Dimple Design for Aerodynamic Trajectory Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing golf balls do not adequately evaluate flight performance due to inconsistent drag and lift coefficients throughout their trajectory, leading to insufficient evaluation of flight performance.
Innovation Solution
A golf ball design featuring a large number of non-circular dimples, created using a Voronoi tessellation process on a phantom sphere, which results in specific average drag and lift coefficients across different segments of the ball's flight, optimizing aerodynamic performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional dimple designs are used, then manufacturing is simple, but flight performance evaluation is insufficient due to inconsistent drag and lift coefficients
Solution Approach 1:
The trajectory is divided into four segments (launch to midpoint, midpoint to top, top to midpoint, midpoint to landing) and drag/lift coefficients are evaluated separately for each segment. This segmentation allows comprehensive flight performance evaluation by capturing the dynamic changes in aerodynamic coefficients throughout the entire trajectory, resolving the insufficiency of single-point evaluation in conventional designs.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent specifies precise parameter ranges for average drag coefficients (CD1≤0.225, CD2≤0.250, CD3≥0.260, CD4≥0.250) and lift coefficients (CL1≤0.180, CL2≤0.220, CL3≥0.220, CL4≥0.200) across different trajectory segments. These parameter changes enable systematic optimization of flight performance while providing clear design criteria that balance evaluation comprehensiveness with manufacturing feasibility.
2Reliability
If drag and lift coefficients are optimized at one time point, then flight performance at that point is improved, but overall trajectory performance remains insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of evaluating coefficients at a single time point, the trajectory is segmented into four distinct phases with specific coefficient requirements for each. This allows the design to optimize overall trajectory performance by ensuring appropriate aerodynamic characteristics at each flight stage, rather than sacrificing global performance for local optimization.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent establishes continuous aerodynamic performance requirements across all four trajectory segments, ensuring that drag and lift coefficients remain within specified ranges throughout the entire flight. This continuous optimization approach maintains useful aerodynamic action from launch to landing, preventing performance degradation that would occur with single-point optimization.
3Reliability
If conventional circular dimples are used, then manufacturing is easier, but aerodynamic performance is suboptimal
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs non-circular dimple patterns with varying shapes and orientations distributed across the ball surface. This asymmetric design creates more complex airflow patterns that enhance aerodynamic performance by better controlling boundary layer transition and separation, while the systematic arrangement maintains manufacturing feasibility through standardized formation processes.
Solution Approach 2:
Different dimple configurations are applied to different regions of the ball surface to optimize local aerodynamic characteristics. The dimple pattern varies by location to control airflow separation and reattachment at specific zones, providing tailored aerodynamic performance for different areas while using consistent manufacturing methods throughout.
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
The golf ball achieves excellent flight performance by maintaining appropriate drag and lift coefficients from launch to landing, enhancing trajectory prediction and distance.
Implementation Method 1
The dimples disturb the air flow around the golf ball during flight to cause turbulent flow separation. By causing the turbulent flow separation, separation points of the air from the golf ball shift backwards.
Implementation Method 2
A drag coefficient CD and a lift coefficient CL influence a trajectory of a golf ball. In the golf ball disclosed in US2007/0093319, the lift force at one time point in a trajectory is merely set within the predetermined range.
Implementation Method 3
A drag coefficient CD and a lift coefficient CL influence a trajectory of a golf ball. In the golf ball disclosed in US2007/0093320, the drag coefficient CD and the lift coefficient CL at one time point in a trajectory are merely set within the predetermined ranges.
Data Source
AI summary
A golf ball 2 has a large number of dimples 8 on a surface thereof. A trajectory of the golf ball 2 is divided into first to fourth segments. An average CD1 of drag coefficients CD and an average CL1 of lift coefficients CL in the first segment are equal to or less than 0.225 and 0.180, respectively. An average CD2 of drag coefficients CD and an average CL2 of lift coefficients CL in the second segment are equal to or less than 0.250 and 0.220, respectively. An average CD3 of drag coefficients CD and an average CL3 of lift coefficients CL in the third segment are equal to or greater than 0.260 and 0.220, respectively. An average CD4 of drag coefficients CD and an average CL4 of lift coefficients CL in the fourth segment are equal to or greater than 0.250 and 0.200, respectively.