Least friction on ice, with good heat transfer

[Lugemaster]

I have been approached by a member of a national luge team and he is interested in exploring differant materials to make his runners out of. The date gathered was that the runners of the sled cool down 4-7 degrees down the track. The pressure on the sled varies from 0-7 g's and in the high pressure portions the corners the steels heat up , and in the straight aways they cool down...the rules of luge make it so you have to stay within a ration of the ice to air temperature. However at the bottom of the run the runners are cooler than they need to be. If we had a material with the lowest friction possible, but that did not absorbe temperature at all, it would be ideal. The second question is if we were to hide a heater in the sled what type of material would heat up fast, cool off fast and have the lowest possible friction with the ice. The hidden heater would not be to cheat, just to maintain the runners at a legal temperature.

Any suggestions?

I am volunteering my time for this interesting project and the sled is to be used in the winter olympics next year, the total budget for this sled is 30,000, the germans will spend 500,000 on one sled...

 

[btrueblood]

"The second question is if we were to hide a heater in the sled what type of material would heat up fast, cool off fast and have the lowest possible friction with the ice. The hidden heater would not be to cheat, just to maintain the runners at a legal temperature."

If it's not cheating, why hide it?

 

[EdStainless]

Ceramic blade inserts? Steel blades with a ceramic contact surface. A toughened Zirconia would have enought mechanical strength and toughness, and very low heat transfer.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Corrosion never sleeps, but it can be managed.

http://www.trenttube.com/Trent/tech_form.htm

 

[NickE]

At MTU when I was an undergrad one of the capstone Sr. design projects was for the USA Luge team.

go here for more info:

http://www.mse.mtu.edu/mse/projectlist.html

Look at 96/97....

 

[Lugemaster]

It is at the request of the usa luge team that the tecnology be hidden. I understand that most of the officials in the sport are from other countries and can pass around sled information. Cheating is however happens allot in the luge world. It is claimed that the 2002 gold medalist for mens single luge had a coach hold his sled before he went (after the steel temperature was taken)the coach had a car battery in his backpack and there were two contact points on the sled which heated the runners.

 

[sreid]

I could be way off base about this but I think the working principle of heated runners is to transfer heat to the runner surface for the ice melting effect (the opposite of thermal insulation). I would then think heavy copper runners (heat storage/ heat conduction) would be the thing to try.

Also, if allowed, a thick CVD diamond coating on the runner would help. Diamond has a very low coefficient of friction and has the highest thermal conductivity of elemental materials(10 x more conductive than copper).

For pre heating, I'm thinking an exothermic reaction. A capule placed in the runner with two separated solutions (think instant hot packs at the drug store). When you want to heat an inertial pin breaks the fluid barrier when, say, the luge is banged on the ground just before the race.

 

[stanweld]

In keeping with the applied heating and thermal conductivity concepts, you may wish to consider berrylium copper alloys (high strength, hardess and wear resistance) for the runners.