USA Luge Teams Up with GoEngineer for 3D Scanning Services
USA Luge recently teamed up with GoEngineer to undertake a unique scanning service - to digitize a set of handmade carbon fiber runners for a doubles luge.
USA Luge is an Olympic class member organization of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) and is the National Governing Body (NGB) for the sport of luge in the United States.
USA Luge recruits, prepares, trains, and equips the United States National Luge Team for international and Olympic competitions and promotes the growth of the sport nationwide.
Similar to other equipment-based sports (like cycling or archery), the equipment used by Olympic athletes needs to be as high-performance as the superhumans who are competing, as it is often the smallest details that can make the difference between heartbreak or Olympic glory.
Those small details are the result of hours of R&D and Olympic luges are highly customized and tuned to the anatomy, preferences, and style of the athlete (or athletes if competing in doubles events).
The sled used in the luge event consists of four main components: The Pod, the Kufen, the Horn, and the runner.
The Pod is the seat that the athletes ride on and it is custom fitted to their geometry.
Below the Pod sits the Kufen, (or runner). This absorbs most of the load experienced during the luge event and is made from carbon fiber to be light and durable.
Extending from the Kufen is the Horn, which is a flexible piece of carbon fiber that curves upwards. The athletes press on this with their calves to steer the luge down the track.
Finally, at the bottom of the runner, sits the steel, an appropriately named piece of metal that acts similar to an ice skate. It touches the ice track and reduces the contact area the sled makes with the ground to maximize speed. The image below shows how all these pieces fit together to make a luge sled.
USA Luge enlisted the help of GoEngineer's 3D scanning services team to digitize a set of runners for a doubles sled. These runners are used by athletes to steer the sled and need to be customized to fit the anatomy of the two riders. Each pair will require adjustments in size, curve, and shape based on the riders' anatomy.
GoEngineer used a Creaform HandyScan Black Elite 3D scanner to scan the runners in ultra-fine detail, capturing all the subtle modifications hand-tuned to fit the pair of athletes just right. Scanning digitizes the physical part into an STL file, that is then converted into a usable CAD model that can be easily edited.
This process allows for faster modification and production of future runners compared to the traditional handcrafted method. In other words, this file can be used as a template for creating future variations. Below is the scan data we captured from one of the runners.
The digital model was then used to create an inverse model which serves as a mold. The mold was 3D printed using ASA material on a Stratasys FDM printer and then used in the carbon fiber lay-up process to create another runner. As the runners are symmetrical, both a left and right mold are necessary to create a complete set.
USA Luge has relied on GoEngineer as a technical expert for 3D scanning and participate in our SOLIDWORKS self-paced training courses, which helps them gain the CAD proficiency required to edit these highly bespoke models and save countless hours creating new runners.
Partner this with Stratasys 3D printers, and they can manufacture one-of-a-kind parts in days, not weeks, giving athletes more time to train for the ultimate goal: Olympic victory!
To learn more about the rich history of USA Luge, become a member, or find an event to try luging for yourself go to https://www.usaluge.org
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About Sam Cheney
Sam Cheney is an Application Engineer specializing in 3D Scanning and Additive Manufacturing based out of Dallas, TX. He is a Certified Stratasys Applications Engineer and co-leads the 3D Scanning Services team. Originally from the UK, Sam holds a Master's Degree in Mechanical Engineering with a specialization in 3D Printing from The University of Sheffield. Alongside working with commercial 3D printers & scanners, Sam trains others and teaches courses for Geomagic products & VXelements software. He is also an avid consumer 3D printer user and uses his Creality Ender3 to create art and functional parts for projects in his everyday life.
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