Abstract
The aerodynamic behavior of a tennis ball is completely different from other sports balls due to the size and the ball surface structure. The tennis ball goes through three distinct stages during the normal shot. These stages are racket/ball impact, trajectory through the air and then the ball/surface impact. The main objective of this research is to investigate experimentally and numerically the trajectories of a ball hit 38.9 m/s at various angles. Also the study is focused on the effect of the drag force and the turbulence around the ball. In the numerical analysis, the computational fluid dynamic CFD code, FLUENT for 2D and 3D configurations has been employed. The use of the numerical tool has resulted in a detailed investigation of the forces which act on the ball, aerodynamic forces to facilitate the ball and the ball rebound.
