Recent results in computational fluid dynamics from the University of Sheffield's Sports Engineering Research Group and Fluent indicate that the shape and surface of a soccer ball, as well as its initial orientation, play a fundamental role in the ball's trajectory through the air.

In particular, the CFD researchers have increased understanding of the "knuckleball" effect, a technique sometimes used to confuse an opposing goalkeeper. The research group focused on shots resulting from "free kicks," in which the ball is placed on the ground, as after a foul.

Fluent is an importatnt ISV application available on Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003, the HPC platform from Microsoft. To understand how you can used Fluent for your simulation on Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003, watch this webcast.