Problem Statement

Design, analyze, and fabricate a versatile and non-destructive sport-balls friction coefficients tester.

Introduction

Synthetic materials and innovative manufacturing processes are revolutionizing the sport-balls industry. This change is occurring so swiftly that third party researchers have conducted little research to verify the industry’s work and its impact on the sporting world.

Sport-balls research focuses on the interaction of the ball and its surrounding game environment. Ball handling is an important aspect of this interaction. It focuses on the ball’s contact with other solid bodies and their surface conditions. It is quantitatively analyzed by determining the ball’s friction coefficients under various game conditions for static, dynamic, and rolling friction.

The inclined plane test has traditionally been employed to accurately determine the static friction coefficient of flat surfaces. Unfortunately, additional tests are required to determine the dynamic and rolling friction coefficients. Moreover, most sport-balls have spherical surfaces, which create testing difficulties due to uncontrollable ball rolling. These two factors often result in the destruction of existing balls to obtain testing samples, which raises research expenses significantly since modern sport-balls are expensive pieces of sport equipment. Furthermore, the inclined plane test requires time and painstaking attention, which induces a significant amount of human error. Automated and non-destructive testing methods are therefore preferred, because they restrain the cost of testing samples and the amount of human labor.

The Friction Tester (FT) that we intend to produce addresses the need for non-destructive testing methods. Its versatility will accommodate both a wide range of modern sport-balls and sensory devices (i.e. motion detectors). And lastly, its automated data collection ability will significantly reduce the human error present in traditional testing methods. These improvements will offer cheaper initiatives for third party research to be conducted. They will also provide the basis for a deeper understanding of the role that synthetic materials play in the realm of sports.

Motivation

The FT is indented as an undergraduate student research tool available through the Villanova University Mechanical Engineering Department (VU MED) for sport engineering research, and as an undergraduate mechanical engineering laboratory experiment on friction, putting in practice what the students learn in their dynamics course. Dr. L. Alaways (VU MED) introduced sports engineering research to his students during the fall of 2006. His interest focused on determining the static friction coefficient of round sport-balls. Nicolas Krumenacker took this undergraduate research opportunity and subsequently received the 2008 VU Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF), in which part of his research integrated Dr. L. Alaways’ earlier work. Krumenacker’s summer research is the foundation for the FT project. Simultaneously, all members of this project share a strong affinity for team sports, most of which employ round sport-balls. We recognize that synthetic materials are significantly changing the way these sports are played. Upon completion of the FT, some of the team members are interested in continuing and publishing the research on sport-balls friction testing methods started at VU by first Alaways and then Krumenacker.