Department of Mechanical Engineering, Unit Catalogue 2009/10 |
ME40282: Advanced sports engineering |
 Credits:
| 6 |
| Level:
| Masters |
| Period: | Semester 1 |
| Assessment:
| CW 100% |
| Supplementary Assessment: | Like-for-like reassessment (where allowed by programme regulations) |
| Requisites:
| |
| Description: | Aims: To examine specific topics in sports engineering at an advanced level. Learning Outcomes: On successful completion of this unit the student will have: Demonstrated a knowledge and understanding in a number of specialized areas relating to sports engineering that can include: (i) the use and application of glassy materials in sports equipment (ii) the application of engineering mechanics and dynamics to the design and analysis of archery equipment (iii) the application of smart materials (iv) the cause and treatment of sports injuries. Skills: Facilitated - intellectual, practical, key. Content: Topics will vary year by year but may include: (a) Glassy materials in sport Background: Inorganic glasses, polymeric glasses, metallic glasses, structure of glass, toughness of glass, light control, photo-chromic glass, Polaroid lenses, contact lenses. Applications: Crash helmet visors, fencing visors, windscreens, laminated glass, canopies for gliders, glass display technology, metallic (springy) glasses for golf club heads, optical fibres, glass fibres. (b) The role of engineering in archery Background: The modern sport of archery, technological advances in engineering design and materials development. Efficiency of bows in terms of maximising energy storage and dissipation, firing accuracy and repeatability, draw loads. Arrows stability, strings efficiency and reliability. Mechanics and dynamics of archery bows, review of the evolution of design and material selection. Applications: The Long bow, Sports bows (Recurve and Compound types and their components), the Archer's Paradox, draw load/length characteristics, stabilisers and doinkers, arrow designs (shaft materials, fletchings, nocks and piles), arrow flight, archery competitions. (c) Smart materials Background: Shape memory and superelastic alloys, shape memory polymers, piezoelectric materials, electroactive polymers, artificial muscles, textiles, thermochromic inks and polymers. Applications: Clothing, active and passive vibration damping, domestic appliances, super-elastic golf clubs, eyeglass frames, medical devices, conformable bedding. (d) Sports injuries Background: Sports and recreational injuries, muscle sprains and strains, ligament, tendon and cartilage tears, dislocations and fractures, common types of injury to soft and hard tissues, physiotherapy and surgery. Applications: Sports injuries to the knee joint from minor injuries to torn ligaments and damaged cartilage. Treatments including natural and synthetic replacements for ligaments and the use of tissue engineering for cartilage replacement. |