Restitution and Impact Performance of Rubber Baseball

Abstract

Baseballs have high rigidity because they are made of cork, rubber, wool, and cowhide. However, it is safer for children and adults to play baseball with a rubber ball than a baseball because the rubber ball is a hollow two-layer ball made of rubber. Therefore, it is very important to analyze the characteristics of a rubber baseball to suggest safety measures while using the ball. In addition, it is very important to analyze the restitution and impact performance of a rubber ball in developing bat. In this study, the impact performance of A-, B-, and M-ball on a rigid wall was examined, and the restitution and impact performance of each ball were compared. The results of the experiment demonstrated that the M-ball had the lowest coefficient of restitution at a velocity of 5-10 m/s. Moreover, from 30 to 50 m/s, the coefficient of restitution for the M-ball was the same as that for the A-ball and that for the B-ball was lower. The M-ball had the highest impact load and impact pressure. However, there was little difference.