An Investigation of Different Golf Ball Dimple Flow Fields

This experimental study evaluated the potential of various golf ball dimple designs to reduce the drag produced by a golf ball in flight. An experimental setup using four dimple models placed between the leading and trailing edges of a wing section was used. A traditional spherical dimple design was used as the baseline to comparatively study and evaluate the results of the other three different designs. This study was performed on scaled dimple geometries in a water channel at realistic Reynolds number. Surface dye flow visualization, pressure measurements and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) were used to evaluate the various designs. Vortex shedding from within a dimple was studied in an attempt to develop a design that improved the vortex strength and increase the energy exchange that takes place between the vortices leaving the dimple and the flow boundary layer beyond.

It was found that a specially designed insert inside the basic dimple provided a means by which flow attachment can take place and vortex strength can be increased. It was also found that the stronger vortices appear to exchange more energy with the flow boundary layer providing it with an improved, fuller profile. It was also found that CFD, if carefully set up, is able to successfully model the flow within a dimple.