Failure of the chassis of roller skates for agonistic figure skating

Abstract

The subject of this work was to investigate the early failure, which occurred in the chassis of a roller skate for figure skating. The paper deals with the preliminary analysis of the crack and with the integrated approach, which had to be followed to overcome the problem. Literature in the fields of physiology and biomechanics was studied to correctly simulate the load distribution on the chassis. Finite element simulation, experimental stress analysis and analytical modeling of impact phenomena had to be combined together to estimate the entity of dynamic loads and the corresponding state of stress. The analysis led to the determination of the primary cause of failure, bending fatigue, and to the suggestion of a simple solution to improve and optimize the project.