A study of baseball aerodynamic drag

Abstract

The baseball is one of the popular games in North and South America, North Asia and some parts of Europe and Africa. It is enjoyed both by participants and spectators. The games centre piece is the spherical ball. The flight trajectory of a baseball largely depends on its aerodynamic characteristics. Despite the popularity of the game, it appears that scant information on aerodynamic force experienced by a baseball is available in the open literature. Having over 108 curved stitches, complex seams and their orientation, the airflow around the ball is believed to be significantly complex and little understood. The primary objectives of this study were to evaluate aerodynamic performances of a commercially manufactured baseball. The aerodynamic forces and moments were measured experimentally for a range of wind speeds and seam orientations. The aerodynamic forces and their non-dimensional coefficients were analysed. The results indicate that the drag coefficient of a base ball is close to other closely related balls such cricket ball. The findings also indicate that the seam orientation has profound impact on ball's aerodynamic characterisitcs