Experimental Laboratory Tests Study of foams for vibration dampening in snowboards Fatigue tests on Mahindra J101 motorbike

Abstract

This thesis is divided in two parts. The first part is a study comparing different foams and their future uses in the design of snowboards to dampen vibrations and shocks during snowboarding. The other part explains the tests done on motorcycle components. The foams study focuses on the comparison of eight different pads, finding their proprieties and characteristics. The aim of the study was to analyze the relation between the materials features and the comfort during snowboarding, to select the ones that performed better. Some different tests were done both static and dynamic. A specific bench was developed to carry out the different kinds of tests, simulating the real situation of the pads in use. In this part accelerometers were used to collect data and find the behavior of the materials at different frequencies. In a second stage a testing machine was used to conclude this study. The second part of the thesis consisted in study on motorcycle components, studying the mechanical and structural proprieties of the main frame, the rear shock absorber and the handlebars. For each part a specific test bench was developed to carry out the tests. The component properties were analyzed during the tests.