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A.J. Cooke
Department of Engineering, Cambridge University. UK
Badminton is as popular as lawn tennis (when
"popular" is defined by the Number of adults who play the game).
Indeed, the origin of the game, played with a feather shuttlecock, in
the mid-19th century is said to pre-date lawn tennis. The invention of
the more durable (cheaper!) synthetic shuttlecock in the 1950's gave
the game a wider appeal. Yet, manufacturers have still to produce a
synthetic shuttlecock that exactly mirrors the flight of the feather
shuttlecock during the game of badminton and they have been striving to
reach that goal for over 40 years.
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This paper describes experiments which were
devised to understand the flow regime around a shuttlecock and to
accurately determine a data set of aerodynamic coefficients for
selected feather and synthetic shuttlecocks. The drag, lift and
pitching moment coefficients were measured for a range of Reynolds
Numbers (based on maximum skirt diameter) selected to cover most
velocities reached in a badminton game; 13,000 < Re < 190,000 (3
m/s to 44 m/s). The results form part of a wider programme of research
which examined the differences between feather and synthetic
shuttlecocks and ultimately led to a new product.
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field
of Sports Engineering. This article, as well as many of the others
referenced on this site, are available from 
