Abstract
The objective of this study was to construct a finite element (FE) model for a table tennis rubber with pimples structure which can accurately estimate the rebound behavior of the ball at impact, and to investigate effects of the structure of the rubber on ball rebound behavior. The rubber is composed by combination of a rubber sheet and a polyurethane foam, and the sheet has complicated structures which are lined up cylindrical pimples. FE models of the sheet and the foam were constructed with non-linearity, strain rate dependency and energy absorption which was expressed based on the results of the static tensile and compression tests and the dynamic compression test. The simulation results for the rebound behavior of the ball, which were calculated from impact analysis between the sheet plate and the ball, quantitatively agreed well the experimental results. FE analysis were conducted using the developed models of the ball and rubber with different diameter of pimples. The simulation results of spin rate do not tend to be proportional to the size of pimple diameter. The trend of the spin rate depends on the amount of impulse during impact which is calculated using the horizontal component of the contact force which contributes to the generation of the spin It was determined that the spin rate has a maximal value when the impulse is the largest.
