Shape Optimization of a Wooden Baseball Bat Using Parametric Modeling and Genetic Algorithms
Baseball is a popular and very lucrative bat-and-ball sport that uses a wooden bat to score runs. We hypothesize that new design features for baseball bats will emerge from their shape optimization using parametric modeling and genetic algorithms. We converge the location of two points on bats made...
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2021-08-01
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doaj-246d30e4bbcd400aaa8d539fa7233dfa2021-09-25T23:35:04ZengMDPI AGAI2673-26882021-08-0122438139310.3390/ai2030024Shape Optimization of a Wooden Baseball Bat Using Parametric Modeling and Genetic AlgorithmsMohammad Sadegh Mazloomi0Philip D. Evans1Centre for Advanced Wood Processing, Department of Wood Science, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, CanadaCentre for Advanced Wood Processing, Department of Wood Science, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, CanadaBaseball is a popular and very lucrative bat-and-ball sport that uses a wooden bat to score runs. We hypothesize that new design features for baseball bats will emerge from their shape optimization using parametric modeling and genetic algorithms. We converge the location of two points on bats made from maple (<i>Acer</i> sp.) and ash (<i>Fraxinus</i> sp.) wood that are associated with increased velocity of a ball rebounding off a bat: vibrational nodal points and the center of percussion (COP). Our modeling and optimization approach was able to reduce the distance between the nodal points and COP from 166.0 mm to 52.1 mm. This change was similar in both wood species and resulted from changes to the geometry of the bat, specifically shifting of the mass of the bat toward the center of the barrel and removing mass from the very end of the barrel. We conclude that the combination of parametric finite element modeling and optimization using genetic algorithms is a powerful tool for exploring virtual designs for baseball bats that are based on performance criteria and suggest that our designs could be realized in practice using subtractive manufacturing technology.https://www.mdpi.com/2673-2688/2/3/24baseball batwoodmapleashshape optimizationfinite element modeling |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Mohammad Sadegh Mazloomi Philip D. Evans |
spellingShingle |
Mohammad Sadegh Mazloomi Philip D. Evans Shape Optimization of a Wooden Baseball Bat Using Parametric Modeling and Genetic Algorithms AI baseball bat wood maple ash shape optimization finite element modeling |
author_facet |
Mohammad Sadegh Mazloomi Philip D. Evans |
author_sort |
Mohammad Sadegh Mazloomi |
title |
Shape Optimization of a Wooden Baseball Bat Using Parametric Modeling and Genetic Algorithms |
title_short |
Shape Optimization of a Wooden Baseball Bat Using Parametric Modeling and Genetic Algorithms |
title_full |
Shape Optimization of a Wooden Baseball Bat Using Parametric Modeling and Genetic Algorithms |
title_fullStr |
Shape Optimization of a Wooden Baseball Bat Using Parametric Modeling and Genetic Algorithms |
title_full_unstemmed |
Shape Optimization of a Wooden Baseball Bat Using Parametric Modeling and Genetic Algorithms |
title_sort |
shape optimization of a wooden baseball bat using parametric modeling and genetic algorithms |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
AI |
issn |
2673-2688 |
publishDate |
2021-08-01 |
description |
Baseball is a popular and very lucrative bat-and-ball sport that uses a wooden bat to score runs. We hypothesize that new design features for baseball bats will emerge from their shape optimization using parametric modeling and genetic algorithms. We converge the location of two points on bats made from maple (<i>Acer</i> sp.) and ash (<i>Fraxinus</i> sp.) wood that are associated with increased velocity of a ball rebounding off a bat: vibrational nodal points and the center of percussion (COP). Our modeling and optimization approach was able to reduce the distance between the nodal points and COP from 166.0 mm to 52.1 mm. This change was similar in both wood species and resulted from changes to the geometry of the bat, specifically shifting of the mass of the bat toward the center of the barrel and removing mass from the very end of the barrel. We conclude that the combination of parametric finite element modeling and optimization using genetic algorithms is a powerful tool for exploring virtual designs for baseball bats that are based on performance criteria and suggest that our designs could be realized in practice using subtractive manufacturing technology. |
topic |
baseball bat wood maple ash shape optimization finite element modeling |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/2673-2688/2/3/24 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT mohammadsadeghmazloomi shapeoptimizationofawoodenbaseballbatusingparametricmodelingandgeneticalgorithms AT philipdevans shapeoptimizationofawoodenbaseballbatusingparametricmodelingandgeneticalgorithms |
_version_ |
1717368522667982848 |