Dynamic behaviour of miniature laser textured skis

ABSTRACT

Friction between moving bodies in mutual contact is a field studied in depth. A strategy to improve the tribological performance of mechanical components consists of modifying the surface microstructure using the laser surface texturing (LST) technique. For instance, the technique was shown to improve tool life and reduce energy consumption in applications concerning industrial manufacturing and automotive industry. Concerning sports equipment, e.g. skis, these are tribological systems different from generic mechanical components, and as such they require further attention to exploit the benefits of textured surfaces. In this work, LST was applied in the form of microholes (dimples) on two metallic materials, namely AISI 301 and a commercial aluminium alloy (Titanal^®), used for ski manufacturing. Geometrical-morphological characteristics of the textured surface and their wettability were investigated. Finally, prototype mini-skis were manufactured and tested under different ambient snow and speed conditions. Results show that LST can reduce the friction coefficient and improve performances.

KEYWORDS:

• Ice and snow friction
• hydrophobicity
• skis
• dimples
• micro-features
• laser micro-texturing