Primitive Archer

Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: RyanY on December 24, 2016, 12:18:28 am

Title: Increasing stored energy in laminated bows.
Post by: RyanY on December 24, 2016, 12:18:28 am
I had this weird idea about a way to possibly increased stored energy in a laminated bow. The idea is that gluing laminations that are twisted into a straight profile would increased stored energy. For example, in a bow with four lams the back and belly could be normal but the middle two could be steamed and twisted in opposite directions before glue up. Of course this would increase the chances of twist in the final product with increased difficulty in keeping everything symmetrical. But would gluing twisted lams together increase stored energy for the bend of a bow? Just a crazy idea I'll likely never try but any thoughts? Has this been done?
Title: Re: Increasing stored energy in laminated bows.
Post by: gfugal on December 24, 2016, 01:36:53 am
It might but sounds like more hassel than its worth unless you had nothing better to try. I can imagine it being overly diffucult to get right with minor benefit.
Title: Re: Increasing stored energy in laminated bows.
Post by: loon on December 24, 2016, 05:35:21 am
sounds somewhat like perry reflex but more wonky
Title: Re: Increasing stored energy in laminated bows.
Post by: Del the cat on December 24, 2016, 07:05:52 am
Stored stress in a direction that can't be released to do useful work?
Del
Title: Re: Increasing stored energy in laminated bows.
Post by: PEARL DRUMS on December 24, 2016, 09:10:16 am
Ryan the glass guys are doing something like with woven carbon. They also like to take wood veneers with opposing cuts and glue them together believing they are making more energy.
Title: Re: Increasing stored energy in laminated bows.
Post by: willie on December 24, 2016, 12:26:55 pm
Just a gut feeling, but I would tend to agree with Del about twisted. The larger question, of improving ways to store more energy in prestressed laminations, might still have more room to run.....
Title: Re: Increasing stored energy in laminated bows.
Post by: osage outlaw on December 24, 2016, 01:17:16 pm
Good to see you back Dr. Yoon.  Are you going to make it to the Classic again?
Title: Re: Increasing stored energy in laminated bows.
Post by: RyanY on December 24, 2016, 03:58:41 pm
I guess it makes sense that the rotational stress probably wouldn't contribute to stored energy for a bow. Thanks for the input!

Clint, I'm hoping its in the cards. Going to be a lot going on next year starting residency so we'll see. I'm praying that I can make it!
Title: Re: Increasing stored energy in laminated bows.
Post by: Badger on December 24, 2016, 04:53:49 pm
  I have never really accepted that the prestressing of the laminations is what gives the laminated bow that little extra boost it has. I think it has more to do with less hysteresis do to the bow being strained less while acquiring its finished profile. 
Title: Re: Increasing stored energy in laminated bows.
Post by: Danzn Bar on December 24, 2016, 05:54:20 pm
Good to see you back Dr. Yoon.  Are you going to make it to the Classic again?
+1 :)
DBar
Title: Re: Increasing stored energy in laminated bows.
Post by: scp on December 24, 2016, 06:12:02 pm
  I have never really accepted that the prestressing of the laminations is what gives the laminated bow that little extra boost it has. I think it has more to do with less hysteresis do to the bow being strained less while acquiring its finished profile.

It would damage the wood a lot less if we just glue in the reflex instated of preforming the laminates through heat bending and gluing them.

One way to test the effect of pre-stressing would be to make two identical 4-part laminated limbs; and make one by gluing in reflex with all 4 laminates at once and compare it to the other that was made by first gluing the 2 laminates each flat and later glue the two flat glued laminates into reflex. The former would have three pre-stress glue lines while the latter would have just one. But I don't do laminated bows. At most I make bamboo backed bows, still very rarely. I might try the test by making two same shape siyahs.
Title: Re: Increasing stored energy in laminated bows.
Post by: Tree_Ninja on December 24, 2016, 06:49:09 pm
Would a perry reflex be an example of this?


I alwayd wondered about the unwinding of a twisted limb  during a release.  I figured that the angle of force would not be tangential to the plane of the string.  There would be torque but I don't think it would translate the energy to the string and arrow.

  Snowboard makers have cross grained wood cores in order to increase strength and breaking resistance, they call these X-grain so that the grain lines up 45 degrees opposing the laminates. This is more to solve breakage from the forces being at 90/perpindicular to the edge of the snowboard. You could store more energy before breakage this way.... off topic....

 I had made a higly reflexed recurve that caused the string to fly off and would go past the arrow pass, I wondered if was allowed in flight archery to do this, as it increases stroke length and releasing all stored energy (including energy stored in brace).
Title: Re: Increasing stored energy in laminated bows.
Post by: Aaron H on December 25, 2016, 08:25:00 pm
I agree, great to see you back Dr.
Title: Re: Increasing stored energy in laminated bows.
Post by: bushboy on December 25, 2016, 08:36:19 pm
cool idea!I like to think up unique designs also.
Title: Re: Increasing stored energy in laminated bows.
Post by: Buckeye Guy on December 25, 2016, 08:56:08 pm
Good to see the Dr in the house
where you doing the residency
you best show up at Marshall  son
as for your question man its Christmas I ain't stressing my brain over it right now I have Grandkids to play with
see ya in the spring my friend
Title: Re: Increasing stored energy in laminated bows.
Post by: Springbuck on January 04, 2017, 06:46:51 pm
I don't know exactly about the answer to the original question, but let me share an experiment I did once.

I wanted to make a slightly deflexed bow with parallel limbs for most of the length, and super tiny, skinny, pretty sharply angled tips, like molly tips, but with about a 60° angle and 10" long or so.   No, I don't remember why I wanted to do something this odd, but it was early on and I was learning. I know I was interested in figuring out limits back then.  I still have the bow. 

 So, I backed some QS black locust with hickory, bent the tips in both, and glued up.  The tips ended up really skinny, less than 3/8 wide the whole 10" of length, and maybe 1/4"  at the nocks.  Also, only about 1/4" front to back at the tip, and maybe 1/2" thick where they kinked at the recurves. 

ANYWAY, they bent sideways like tall grass in a high wind.  So, trying to save the bow, I actually sanded the tips down even more, side to side, like 1/4" side to side, maybe less.  I left the very tips alone.  Then, for each tip, I made two 8" long stays out of bamboo garden stakes. I ground these 1/16" thick-ish. 

Here is the cool part!!!    I took these little bamboo slats and bent them over rind down, on a form I had made for R/D limbs, and cooked them in place with a torch.  I torched the pith side.   Then I went back and applied them to the SIDES of the skinny limb-tip with TB III.

See, I cooked them into a curve, then Perry DEFLEXed them in place, really just to straight.  I was hoping that by adding the curve first, then gluing/clamping them flat,  the slats would be pre-stressed enough to really stiffen the limb tip laterally.  It WORKED!  The limb tips were about the same width as before, but WAY stiffer side to side.  Get it??  Lateral Perry reflex.

Sorry so long winded with no pics, but I have since wondered if the same technique could be used to raise stability and lateral stiffness in a limb.  Say, for instance I wanted to do a bamboo-backed R/D with some belly wood or other. What if I ripped the belly lam in half lengthwise, right down the midline.  Then imagine if I used various clamps to curve each half away from the other and heat treated it in place (or even did multiple laminations laterally like a side to side Perry reflex, meeting in the middle.)  When I pull them back together side to side, then force reflex them into the R/D form, I'm wondering what that would do as far as both lateral and torsional stability of the limb? 

I do know the same trick works on arrows.  I made some high spine, skinny arrows using the same trick.

Anyway.  I'll put it on the list.
Title: Re: Increasing stored energy in laminated bows.
Post by: Pappy on January 05, 2017, 08:41:47 am
No idea on the question ??? but good to see you back on Doc. ;) :)
 Pappy
Title: Re: Increasing stored energy in laminated bows.
Post by: RyanY on January 05, 2017, 10:09:00 am
That makes sense but I think there definitely needs to be a control for just using straight slats without that pre bend. It would be cool to do some bend tests to see if energy storage changes with pre stressed limbs. I also wonder if increasing glue surface area effects energy storage like the grooves used in horn bows.

Pappy, good to be back! In the easier part of my last year of school. I got started on a bow yesterday!  ;D
Title: Re: Increasing stored energy in laminated bows.
Post by: willie on January 05, 2017, 03:17:07 pm
Quote
I do know the same trick works on arrows.  I made some high spine, skinny arrows using the same trick.

interesting experiment and results, Springbuck.  just to be sure I understand your layup, did it look like   )|(   ?, before you clamped and glued? I don't know how often one might have reason to stiffen siyahs, but the technique seems to be worth exploring further, especially for laminated bamboo arrows. Perhaps you can write more about your arrows?

there was a good discussion recently about split bamboo arrows here...

http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,56266.0.html


Quote
It would be cool to do some bend tests

Ryan,
  I agree, especially seeing how there are various explanations, or at least some doubts about some of the explanations of the "Perry" effect.
 
  It just so happens that  am in the process of gluing some samples up, for testing of a backing, in a somewhat controlled test of my own.  Could you suggest a test? If it is within my capabilities, I would be willing to make up a few additional samples.
Title: Re: Increasing stored energy in laminated bows.
Post by: PatM on January 05, 2017, 03:53:36 pm
I don't know how often one might have reason to stiffen siyahs.

  The presence of bone slats in ancient composites show the importance they placed on stiffening siyahs laterally.
Title: Re: Increasing stored energy in laminated bows.
Post by: Badger on January 05, 2017, 06:46:08 pm
I don't think looking at it in terms of stored energy would really apply. Possibly stiffness per mass ratio might be a good way to evaluate it. The stored energy is more a product of geometry. All springs have one thing in common, they build at so much per inch. So regardless of how stiff it is it is still basicaly a work in work out measurement.
I do notice that bows with a laminated back tend to be a little thinner than self bows. I also believe they get strained less when pulling them out of reflex into brace. They tend to be slightly more efficient.
Title: Re: Increasing stored energy in laminated bows.
Post by: Springbuck on January 05, 2017, 09:42:12 pm
Quote
  just to be sure I understand your layup, did it look like   )|(   ?, before you clamped and glued? I don't know how often one might have reason to stiffen siyahs, but the technique seems to be worth exploring further

Yes, just like that.

 Thanks for reading the whole thing!   :-)

Title: Re: Increasing stored energy in laminated bows.
Post by: Springbuck on January 05, 2017, 09:45:11 pm
 The presence of bone slats in ancient composites show the importance they placed on stiffening siyahs laterally.
[/quote]

  What interests me really is making them lighter, longer, skinnier, for the same stiffness.
Title: Re: Increasing stored energy in laminated bows.
Post by: PatM on January 05, 2017, 09:47:53 pm
The presence of bone slats in ancient composites show the importance they placed on stiffening siyahs laterally.

  What interests me really is making them lighter, longer, skinnier, for the same stiffness.
[/quote]

 That was likely their intention. Keeping in mind that their bows were very heavy in draw weight relative to the weight of the tips.
Title: Re: Increasing stored energy in laminated bows.
Post by: Springbuck on January 05, 2017, 09:55:01 pm
I don't think looking at it in terms of stored energy would really apply. Possibly stiffness per mass ratio might be a good way to evaluate it. The stored energy is more a product of geometry.
do notice that bows with a laminated back tend to be a little thinner than self bows.
Quote

Yeah, this is the crux.   "Stiffness per mass ratio" also pre-supposes that the lower mass can survive the geometry that stores the energy.

  Sometimes, these bows actually end up physically more massive, but only a bit, while allowing geometry that stores much more energy.  It seems so, anyway.
Title: Re: Increasing stored energy in laminated bows.
Post by: willie on January 06, 2017, 03:17:48 am
Quote
I do notice that bows with a laminated back tend to be a little thinner than self bows.............. get strained less


Quote
Sometimes, these bows actually end up physically more massive


Astute observations, guys.   Good food for thought