A mass-spring-damper model of a bouncing ball

Mark Nagurka, Shuguang Huang

Research output: Contribution to journalConference articlepeer-review

50 Scopus citations

Abstract

The mechanical properties of a vertically dropped ball, represented by an equivalent mass-spring-damper model, are related to the coefficient of restitution and the time of contact of the ball during one bounce with the impacting surface. In addition, it is shown that the coefficient of restitution and contact time of a single bounce are related to the total number of bounces and the total time elapsing between dropping the ball and the ball coming to rest. For a ball with significant bounce, approximate expressions for model parameters, i.e., stiffness and damping or equivalently natural frequency and damping ratio, are developed. Experimentally-based results for a bouncing ping-pong ball are presented.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)499-504
Number of pages6
JournalProceedings of the American Control Conference
Volume1
StatePublished - 29 Nov 2004
Externally publishedYes
EventProceedings of the 2004 American Control Conference (AAC) - Boston, MA, United States
Duration: 30 Jun 20042 Jul 2004

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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