The First Doctor Specialising in Sports Technology
On April 26, Kalle Kalliorinne defended his PhD dissertation entitled "On the Multi-Scale Nature of Ski-Snow Friction: Field Testing, Characterisation and Modelling of Cross-Country Ski Performance" in the field of machine elements, with a specialisation in sports technology.
How to win more medals in Cross-Country and Biathlon?
More training and better equipment are important factors. When it comes to equipment, the ski has a significant impact on what happens at the contact with the snow. This is dependent on both the ski's properties and the texture of the ski base, and one way to reduce the friction between the ski and the snow is to find the right combination of these.
In Kalle's dissertation External link, opens in new window., among other things, a simulation model is presented to study the contact between the ski and the snow. To investigate the model's applicability, a vast number of field tests were conducted with a new type of measurement method. During these field measurements, the sled equipped with cross-country skis accelerates down slopes and its speed and position in all directions are measured with an advanced and highly accurate satellite-based positioning system, a so-called RTK-GNSS.
More about the work and the content of the dissertation can be found in this recording External link, opens in new window. available on the YouTube channel @SportsNPerformanceTech.

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