Abstract

Snowboard manufacturers attempt to design boards with mechanical properties that provide desirable ride and handling characteristics, adequate strength, and low manufacturing costs. Snowboards are typically a sandwich composite of several individual layers that vary significantly in geometry and composition. To better understand the influence of core materials and construction on a board's stiffness, ultimate failure load, and stored energy, several commercially available snowboards were tested to failure in three point bending. A series of representative boards were tested with three different core materials: foam, wood, and honeycomb. The results show that stiffness and ultimate failure load are most strongly influenced by the core wrap thickness, while the energy storage is most strongly influenced by the core material and construction method used.

Author Information

Grewal, D
Principia Engineering, San Francisco, CA
Lund, C
Exponent, Inc., Menlo Park, CA
Rossetter, E
Principia Engineering, San Francisco, CA
Pages: 8
Price: $25.00
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Details
Stock #: JAI14194
ISSN: 1546-962X
DOI: 10.1520/JAI14194