Modal analysis of segmented, laminated, anisotropic, inhomogeneous beams

Early skis were made from wood, they varied in length, width and thickness but all were similar in performance. They now have very different performance characteristics from the giant slalom, racing, bump and recreational skis. However, very little is known about the changes in these materials after thousands of cycles of finite strain levels. We study the dynamic behavior of skis using the nondestructive technique of modal analysis. This method separates the fundamental modes of vibration. The mode shapes are generated and the dampening factors are calculated for the different modes. Each mode is dynamically displayed on a computer and the data sets printed out. The goal is to determine why and how skis change their dynamic response.