Volleyball Aerodynamics

Overview

This project studies how topspin affects the trajectory of a volleyball jump serve using three complementary methods:

A MATLAB numerical simulation that models the ball’s flight under gravity, drag, and Magnus forces
An ANSYS CFD simulation that visualizes flow behaviour and lift generation around a spinning volleyball
A real-world experimental study using high-speed video to measure serve speed and spin for validation

The goal was to connect theory, simulation, and experiment to understand why topspin allows high-speed serves to remain in bounds.

Part 1: MATLAB Numerical Simulation

A two-dimensional trajectory model (left) was developed in MATLAB using the ode45 solver to simulate a volleyball in flight under gravity, aerodynamic drag, and the Magnus force generated by topspin. Drag was modelled using a Reynolds-number-dependent coefficient, and the Magnus force was computed using a spin-ratio-based lift coefficient derived from published data. The simulation was used to generate trajectory plots and a feasible serve region map (below) classifying serves as in-bounds, out-of-bounds, net, or short.

Click Here to View the Code on GitHub

Part 2: Ansys CFD Simulation

A CFD model of a spinning volleyball in uniform flow was built in ANSYS Fluent to visualize the aerodynamic mechanisms responsible for the Magnus effect. The simulation shows asymmetric pressure distribution and wake deflection caused by surface rotation, providing qualitative confirmation of the lift forces assumed in the numerical model.

Part 3: Experimental Validation

Real jump serves were recorded indoors using an iPhone at 240 frames per second. Serve velocity and angular velocity were estimated from the footage and used as inputs to the MATLAB model. The observed trajectories followed the same trends predicted by the simulation, confirming that increased topspin produces earlier downward curvature and expands the in-bounds serve region.

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