Matlab program to calculate drag force against a cyclist.

• Frontal area:-

Frontal area represents the position of the cyclist on the bicycle and the aerodynamics of the cyclist-bicycle system in this position.

According to researchgate.net the frontal area for the five cyclist positions are 0.460 for sprint regular, 0.374 for sprint low, 0.423 for back up, 0.370 for back horizontal, 0.339 for back down.

In the code we are considering 0.370 m^2 of frontal area.

• Velocity :-

As per cycling race the top speed goes to 25 m/s.

So in this code we are taking velocity range of 0 – 25 m/sec.

• Drag coefficient:-

Cd values ranged from 0 to 25

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Program to calculate drag force against a cyclist %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

clear all
close all
clc


% ------- Inputs ------- %   

% Velocity Range
v = (0 : 25);

% Drag coefficient range 
cd = (0 : 25);

% Constant Velocity 
V = 12;

% Frontal area
A = 0.1;

% Density of air
Ro = 1.2;


% ------- Drag Force Equation ------- %

dragForce_1 = 0.5*Ro*A*cd.*v.^2;
dragForce_2 = 0.5*Ro*A*cd.*V.^2;


% ------- Plot Velocity Vs Drag force ------- %
plot(v,dragForce_1)
xlabel('Velocity')
ylabel('Drag Force')
title('Velocity Vs Drag Force')
grid on
figure

% ------- Plot Drag Coefficent Vs Drag force ------- %
plot(cd,dragForce_2)
xlabel('Drag Coefficent')
ylabel('Drag Force')
title('Drag Coefficent Vs Drag Force')
grid on