Vibration of snowboard decks

Abstract

Vibrations of snowboards are closely related to their performance. The aim of this study was to investigate the frequencies of bending and torsional modes, the damping ratios and location of node lines in two boards with different torsional stiffness under free-free boundary conditions with a non-contact laser vibrometer. The frequencies of the first three bending modes were at 16, 37, and 65 Hz. The frequencies of the first three torsional modes were at 30, 54 and 86 Hz in one board, and 10% higher in the 2nd board. The damping ratios of the two boards investigated ranged between 0.3 and 0.6% for bending and between 0.6 and 1% for torsion. The location of the node lines was comparable to a free-free beam with constant cross-section. Vibration analysis should be a standard investigation for benchmarking of snowboards, in addition to mechanical and geometrical parameters.