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Ski building

For my thesis project, I crafted a pair of skis entirely from scratch. This involved not only designing the ski's shape and layers but also constructing the press used in the manufacturing process. Subsequently, I subjected the skis to  vibrational testing, comparing their performance to that of professionally built skis currently available in the market.

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The project commenced with the CAD design of the skis, which served as a blueprint for the subsequent manufacturing process.

Subsequently, we proceeded to CNC the wood and meticulously cut out the additional layers required for the project.

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Following that, we glued the edges to the PTEX layer and applied the epoxy and fiberglass layers. These  steps were carried out just before placing the skis in the press, allowing them to settle and take shape. Subsequently, we performed the necessary cleanup to achieve a refined and polished final product.

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In parallel we created a custom press tailored precisely to the ski configuration we had designed. This involved creating a CAD model of the press and utilizing a CNC machine to cut it out with precision. We meticulously assembled the press by gluing each layer of wood together, carefully aligned with dowel pins to ensure structural integrity.

Once the press was ready, we proceeded to press the skis, allowing them to take on the desired shape and form. Afterward, we cleaned up the skis, refining and perfecting them to create the final product.

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After the completion of the ski-building process, we conducted a thorough performance evaluation by comparing our skis to others in the market. To do this, we affixed accelerometers to the tip and tail of the skis and subjected them to impact testing using a hammer. By capturing the resulting data, we were able to plot the normalized amplitude against the normalized frequency, providing valuable insights into the skis' dynamic behavior and performance characteristics. We found that there was a correlation between the modes of vibration of our skis and those on the market.

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