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Assignment #2 – Skateboard deck design

Jonathan Ye

ME 360

Professor Gutierrez

October 12, 2021

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Goal of Project
The goal of this project is to design and optimize a skateboard deck by using a materials
selection process and finite element analysis (FEA) taught in Boston University’s ME 360
course.

Figure 1. Parts of a skateboard

Constraints
The constraints of the project include:
● Design for users that weigh up to 180 lb with a shoe size up to US 12
● The board must not produce more than 0.375 in of vertical displacement across the span
of the board
● Design board to a safety factor of 3
● As lightweight as possible
● Assume a pin and a roller joint supports the skateboard at the front and rear truck axles

Background
Material selection:
Since this project’s main focus is to increase the strength and decrease the weight of a
skateboard, a graph of Young’s modulus vs. density with existing materials will be examined to
determine the optimal material. If we assume the skateboard is a simple beam and an elastic
material, we can use these equations:

(1) 𝐹 = 𝑘𝑑 (2) 𝑑 = 𝐹𝐿 ÷ 𝐴𝐸 (3) 𝑚 = ρ𝐴𝐿

We can then rearrange the equations above to:

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(4) 𝑚 = ρ𝐿 𝑘 ÷ 𝐸

*Where 𝐹 = 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑑, 𝑘 = 𝑠𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑎 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑙,

𝑑 = 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑎 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑙, 𝐿 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑘𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑏𝑜𝑎𝑟𝑑,
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𝐴 = 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑠 − 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑘𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑏𝑜𝑎𝑟𝑑, and

𝐸 = 𝑌𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑔'𝑠 𝑀𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑙𝑢𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑙

So, from equation 4., we must limit the ρ/𝐸 ratio to have the least amount of mass. Since
woods are a good balance between elasticity vs. density, wood will be used to manufacture the
skateboard. So, wood will be selected from the Wood Handbook based on a low ρ/𝐸 ratio (1999
Green, Winandy, & Kretschmann).

Figure 2. Young’s Modulus vs. Density graph

FEA:
In this project, SolidWorks will be used to model the skateboard, as well as run an FEA
simulation to optimize the dimensions of the skateboard, as well as the material selection. By
using FEA, the thickness of the skateboard can be optimized to reduce the weight, as the other
dimensions of the skateboard are needed with someone with a shoe size of 12.

Design Decisions and Assumptions

Based on equation 4 and needing to limit the ρ/𝐸 ratio, the best kind of wood to use is
maple with its modulus of elasticity being 12,600 MPa at 12% moisture content with a density of
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about ρ = 43 𝑙𝑏/𝑓𝑡 . Assuming size 12 feet has the area of 72 𝑖𝑛 the stress of a 180 lb person
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standing on the skateboard would be 𝑊/𝐴 = 180𝑙𝑏/ 72𝑖𝑛 = 2. 5 𝑃𝑆𝐼. Assuming that the
worst-case scenario would increase the load by a factor of 5, the stress would increase to 12.5
PSI, which is much lower than the yield stress of 4100 PSI (2021 MatWeb).
Based on conventional skateboard dimensions, the length of the skateboard will be
assumed to be 32”, the width will be about 8”, and the thickness will be 0.5” (2021 How
Products are Made). In the model of the skateboard, 2 equally spaced rectangular shapes will be
placed at the top to simulate two feet standing on the skateboard. 2 equally spaced rectangular
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shapes will be placed at the bottom of the skateboard to simulate the trucks that will be placed on
the skateboard. One of the simulated trucks will be a roller, while the other will be a pin joint.
The model will be made as a flat board to simplify the stress analysis.

FEA

Figure 3. FEA of skateboard with 800N (180lb)

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Figure 4. Skateboard with 4000N

The FEA created from Solidworks calculated the skateboard to have a vertical
displacement of 0.0079 in. at a thickness of 0.35 when a load of 800 N (180 lb) is applied.
Assuming an incredible load variation of 5 times the weight of the person standing on the
skateboard (4000N), the FEA shows that the vertical displacement is 0.338 in. vertical
displacement, which is still lower than the maximum displacement of 0.375 in. So, 0.35 is the
optimized thickness of the skateboard because it is the closest to the maximum displacement that
the skateboard is allowed to achieve.

Conclusion
In conclusion, a skateboard deck was designed and optimized for weight by using
material selection strategies and FEA analysis to be made out of maple wood and have
dimensions of 32” length, 8” width, and 3.5” thickness. With these dimensions and the material
choice, the final weight of the skateboard deck is 1.913 lb. In the future, different materials other
than wood can be experimented with to see how the skateboard deck design can be improved.
Additionally, the model can add a bend along the longer side of the skateboard to make the
skateboard stiffer. Finally, more realistic joints can be made as they were estimated to be
rectangular shapes in this model.
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References

http://www.matweb.com/search/DataSheet.aspx?MatGUID=67e57f907bc842259e268a5c8e4a74
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https://cedarstripkayak.wordpress.com/lumber-selection/162-2/

http://www.madehow.com/Volume-6/Skateboard.html