Document Type

Thesis

Date of Award

Spring 5-31-2013

Degree Name

Master of Science in Materials Science and Engineering - (M.S.)

Department

Committee for the Interdisciplinary Program in Materials Science and Engineering

First Advisor

N. M. Ravindra

Second Advisor

Ken Keunhyuk Ahn

Third Advisor

Anthony Fiory

Fourth Advisor

Peter Kaufman

Abstract

Baseball bat safety has become an increasing area of interest with more than 19 million people in the United States alone participating in this sport. An increase in injuries resulting from bat injuries has brought the performance of the bats into question. A review of several studies focusing on the effects of the material properties of various baseball bats designs were examined. From this review it is evident that player and spectator safety greatly rely on proper baseball bat design. There was a 30% reduction in the Multi-Piece Failures (MPF) of wooden bats once the requirement of a Slope of Grain (SOG) of 1:20 or 3 degrees was introduced in 2009. Further research into the implications of material and design can only help increase the safety to players and spectators.

Share

COinS
 
 

To view the content in your browser, please download Adobe Reader or, alternately,
you may Download the file to your hard drive.

NOTE: The latest versions of Adobe Reader do not support viewing PDF files within Firefox on Mac OS and if you are using a modern (Intel) Mac, there is no official plugin for viewing PDF files within the browser window.