Would Heating an Aluminum Baseball Bat Make it hit Better

[TrippL]

Question came up this past weekend during a college baseball game. Would like to get some expert opinions on the subject.

A bat's deflection at impact acts like "trampoline" for the ball so heating up the bat could possibly make it deflect more, possibly giving it more spring. On the other hand , heat it up too much and it could dampen the impact. I would think heating it up could possibly improve the hitting distance of the bat.

What do you think?

 

[seymours2571]

I vote that heating the bat would be bad for long distance hitting.

Reason being, heating the material will lower the modulus of elasticity and there by reduce the overal structural stiffness of the bat. Lower bat stiffness would imply lower impact forces.

Interesting question though.

More interesting....who is going to hold the 500 deg F bat.

Announcer: "Next up number 9 in his thermal protective suit..."

Stephen Seymour, PE
Seymour Engineering & Consulting Group

http://www.seymourecg.com

 

[IRstuff]

One could look to see if there was a statistically significant difference between games played on the hottest days vs. those played on the coldest days.

TTFN

FAQ731-376
Chinese prisoner wins Nobel Peace Prize

 

[TrippL]

Well, composite bats have recently been outlawed in college baseball because players were "rolling" the bats which broke the composite fibers in the bat allowing more deflection and bigger "trampoline" effect. This was studied and found to give the bats a 30 to 40 ft farther hitting distance, all other variables equal.

From what I've read, the deflection of the bat "trampoline" effect, allows the ball to retain more energy. If this is the case then a bat heated could possibly have an effect on the amount of deflection as Seymore stated.

 

[rb1957]

IR's got a good suggestion ... maybe there's data out there already.

there are obviously a couple of competing mechanisms ... would the bat absorb more strain energy if it was slightly softer ? would a slightly softer bat return this energy more efficiently to the ball ??

 

[boo1]

The typical extruded and drawn 7000-series aluminum tubing is heat-treated to harden the metal. First, cleaned then tubes soak for 20 minutes in a salt bath (sodium nitrate solution) at about 900 degrees Fahrenheit, then they go immediately into cold water tank. Afterward, they are heated in an aging furnace for about 12 to 36 hours at about 300 degrees Fahrenheit to form grains in a particular size and shape and the required hardness/strength.

Research and development for the alloy determine the best hardness/strength and aging conditions. Heating up too much will change the aging.

 

[MiketheEngineer]

We used to cryogenically treat certain types of tooling - gave it a noticably longer life. Just dipped it in liquid nitrogen for a few minutes and let it soak. Then took it out and let it warm back up.

Might try that?? Not sure why it might possibly work?? But it did work on golf balls!! Supposedly??

 

[metengr]

It is known that an aluminum bat at 90 deg F will enable a batter to hit further with greater velocity than a bat at 50 deg F, especially if the ball is at similar temperature because it has more bounce and the trampoline effect of the bat is increased.

Warming the bat beyond 90 deg F is impractical and probably results in no added gain, especially if the ball is between 70-90 deg F.

 

[JohnRBaker]

To say nothing of the fact that a 'warmer' bat will be slightly 'larger' which should increase the 'sweetspot' as well, although I suspect by an amount which will be meaningless when you consider all of the other variables involved in successfully hitting a baseball.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA

http://www.siemens.com/plm

http://www.plmworld.org/museum/

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[ESPcomposites]

Per MIL-HDBK-5, for 6061 and 7075 alloys, the elastic modulus is about 2% less when the temperature is increased from 75 to 200F. I don't know what this would translate to in distance, but it seems rather minor considering a more reasonable upper limit temperature would be far below 200F.

I am not familiar with the "rolling" of composite bats, but I could see how that would be far more dramatic than simply heating a bat by 20 or 30 deg F.

As far as a hot day versus a cold day, I suspect the change in air density would have a lot more to with that than absolute bat temperature.

Brian

http://www.espcomposites.com

 

[TrippL]

Sounds like they may need to add temperature to the testing procedures for approving an NCAA bat per the BESR testing procedure. Currently there is no temperature variable in the testing procedure.

Testing Procedure Explained (BESR):

http://paws.kettering.edu/~drussell/bats-new/besr.html

 

[drawoh]

TrippL,

What really matters here, the modulus of elasticity, or the aluminium's ability to recover the stored strain energy?

Elastic modulus is important in impact analysis when you are trying to reduce the deceleration to avoid damage to equipment and people. All a baseball bat has to do is not destroy the ball.

It may be important that you match the elasticity of the ball and the bat. I am trying to visualize this. There ought to be some sort of shock wave in the ball.

JHG

 

[TrippL]

This site has good info:

http://paws.kettering.edu/~drussell/bats.html

 

[IRstuff]

Regardless of whether something could improve a bat's performance, there is no desire nor intent on the part of Major League Baseball to allow that to happen. Equipment performance is tailored to make homeruns statistically rare.

TTFN

FAQ731-376
Chinese prisoner wins Nobel Peace Prize

 

[JohnRBaker]

Besides, if you're talking about the Major Leagues, Aluminum bats have been outlawed for years. Hell, they get nervous if the bat is painted and you can't see the actual grain of the wood.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA

http://www.siemens.com/plm

http://www.plmworld.org/museum/

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[unclesyd]

You fellows are behind the curve as heating a bat is passe as it turns out that Cryogenic Treatment is the new boy in town.

http://www.rawlingsgear.com/news/article/193

http://www99.epinions.com/review/Worth_Dimension_Base

ball_Bat_3DXAB/content_66799701636

 

[Ron]

Wouldn't it be better to change the metallurgical characteristics only in the handle of the bat? That way you get the "spring" without the excess energy absorption in the barrel. Use a combo cryo/heat process!

 

[TrippL]

Ok, clarifying the original question.

College baseball has recently banned composite bats due to players "rolling" the bats breaking the fiber layers in the bat and giving the bat an increased hitting distance due to increased "trampoline" effect. Now, aluminum bats are all that is allowed. And these aluminum bats have to be BESR Test Approved. (

http://paws.kettering.edu/~drussell/bats-new/besr.html

)

Looking for advantages in hitting ability, players are heating their bats before they hit. Question is, if the batter heats up his bat before he hits, can it possibly help?

 

[dik]

boo1... nice to see you back...

Dik

 

[ESPcomposites]

Could it possibly help? Sure. But by what amount? Like I said before, aluminum's elastic properties don't change very much over reasonable temperatures for human handling.

What was happening with composite bats was a completely different phenomenon. Ball players are pretty superstitious so I suspect placebo would have more affect than actually heating the bat.

Brian

http://www.espcomposites.com