Analysis of the restitution characteristics of a golf ball colliding with a club-head

Abstract

In this paper, a finite element model for investigating the restitution characteristics of the golf ball colliding with club-head is proposed. The solid elements are used to construct the finite element model of golf ball. Solid and shell elements are used for modeling the club-head. The material properties of club-head are considered as isotropic elastic. The proposed model of golf ball is divided into two parts. The cover of ball is considered as an isotropic elastic material while the core of ball is treated as a shape-memory alloy. The restitution characteristics of a golf ball colliding with club-head were simulated by LS-DYNA commercial code. This paper attempts to explore the possibility of modeling COR of golf ball behavior during impact using SMA model for the core material. The verification experiment was conducted using a ball projected by air cannon toward a resting club-head without shaft or grip to measure the coefficient of restitution. One benefit of SMA model is that we could easily control the percentage of energy loss, which is critical for COR, through the four points of SMA model. The other benefit of SMA model is that it requires no special tensile machine and only two additional COR test data are needed to accomplish the analysis. And the experimental result agreed with the proposed finite element model. The developed model is useful to investigate the design parameters of a golf club.