A Novel Free-Gliding Ski Tribometer for Quantification of Ski–Snow Friction with High Precision

Abstract

The nature of snow and the ever-changing environment makes measuring friction on snow and ice challenging. Additionally, due to the low friction involved, the equipment used must exhibit high sensitivity. Previous investigations of ski–snow friction have ranged from small-scale model experiments performed in the laboratory to experiments with full-sized skis outdoors. However, few have been conducted under conditions similar to those encountered during actual skiing. Here, we present a novel sled tribometer which provides highly reproducible coefficient of friction (COF) values for full-sized skis gliding at relevant speeds (approximately 5.9 m/s) in a controlled indoor environment. The relative standard deviation (RSD) of the COF is as low as 0.5%. The continuous recording of velocity allows for innovative investigations into COF variations when skis are permitted to free-glide in a natural setting. Different methods of analysing the results are presented which shows that the precision is not a single number, but a function of the range of velocities over which the average COF is calculated.