Abstract

An analysis of the vibration characteristics of a tennis racket system; frame, string-bed plus damper has been conducted. The influence of how the frequency spectrum is altered by the application of string dampers was investigated. Several experimental setups were used to determine how the vibration profile changed by varying the positioning and weight of the string damper. The vibration characteristics of the string-bed were initially evaluated by comparing vibration responses between frame-excited to string-excited frequency responses. Results show the effect that different damper configurations have on the amplitude and frequency of the vibration modes. The results indicate that string dampers must be tuned to provide optimised damping conditions for individual tennis racket configurations. In conclusion, this work has demonstrated that the damper has effects on the frequency response that go beyond a simple noise reduction or as an aesthetically pleasing addition to the racket. Verf.-Referat