Finite element simulation of a carving snow ski

A dissertation submitted to the SWISS FEDERAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY ZURICH for the degree of Doctor of Technical Sciences presented by PETER ANDREAS FEDEROLF diploma physicist, ETHZ. „Winter sports have developed tremendously during the last century. This increased popularity has not only generated significant industrial activities, but has also boosted tourism in many mountainous regions. The design of new skiing equipment has to date always been the work of expert craftsmen, who improved the existing equipment in expensive and time-consuming prototyping and testing cycles. Nowadays, advanced numerical simulation tools offer new ways to assist ski manufacturers in the development of new equipment designs and shorten the required prototyping and testing cycles. Furthermore, numerical simulation methods offer new ways to analyse the interaction between skier, skiing equipment, and snow, and they offer the oportunity to analyse the impact of single parameters on the turn characteristics.“