A Study on the Mechanical Characteristics of String Planes of Badminton Racquets by Nonlinear Finite Element Analysis

In this study, the finite element analysis of the string planes of badminton racquets was investigated to evaluate the effect of the mechanical characteristics of polymer strings. The nonlinear mechanical characteristics of commercially available polymer strings were obtained by the uniaxial loading tests experimentally. The effects of the strain rate on the mechanical characteristics of the polymer strings were also investigated to consider the dynamic effect on the numerical simulation. The numerical simulation code used to analyze the string planes of the badminton racquets was developed originally. A nonlinear elastic model (Yeoh model) was applied to the mechanical characteristics of the polymer string. Simulated results were compared with the experimental results. The effect of the mechanical characteristics of the polymer strings and the geometrical shape of the badminton racquets on the out-of-plane stiffnesses were investigated.