Pole Vaulting Springs into the World of Composites

GriIIin Beemiller
Mate 330 April 26, 2011

Background
Pole vaulting is an ancient sport that evolved
Irom a time when poles were used as a practical means
oI passing over natural obstacles. The event was
oIIicially added to the Olympic Games in 1896 Ior men
and 2000 Ior women.
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The sport consists oI an athlete running at Iull
speed holding a pole horizontally and planting the pole
to spring him over a bar. The world record height Ior the
sport is 6.03 m held by Okkert Brits oI Germany
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(Figure 1).
Initially vaulting poles were made Irom stiII
materials such as bamboo or aluminum. The
introduction oI modern Ilexible composites allowed
vaulters to achieve greater heights.
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Today the vaulting
pole is an advanced piece oI sporting equipment.

Figure 1: The picture portrays a vaulting pole in bending by
Olympian Okkert Brits.
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Application
The pole must be able to absorb all oI the
vaulter`s energy while in bending and then return all oI
that energy as it straightens out.
The high strength to weight ratio oI the
composites is essential because anything that helps the
vaulter run Iaster on his approach will help him to
spring a higher jump. ThereIore reducing the weight oI
the vaulting pole is an obvious way to help the vaulter
Iun Iaster.
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All modern poles have a slight bend in their
shape, a signiIicantly reinIorced middle, and a 'soIt
side which runs the length oI the pole and must Iace in
the direction oI the initial bending oI the pole. This soIt
side is necessary to maintain good compressive strength
without Iailure.
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Failure to bend the pole correctly by
putting the wrong side under compression would result
in Iracture. The optimum pole length is determined Ior a
vaulter with given initial velocity, strength and style.
Today`s vaulting poles vary based on price, but
the high perIormance poles are made oI a combination
oI carbon Iiber and glass Iiber reinIorced polymers.
Poles can be made out oI diIIerent materials to achieve
desired properties oI a speciIic vaulter.
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Science,
A perIect pole vaulter would be able to convert
all oI his kinetic energy into potential energy.
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As the
vaulter begins to run, he increases his kinetic energy. As
he plants the pole and starts his vault, the kinetic energy
is transIormed into potential energy stored in the bent
pole. This potential energy is then used to raise his body
over the bar. At the top oI his vault, he has converted
most oI his kinetic energy into potential energy.

Flexural rigidity is the important property Ior
this pole and must be maximized at its center. An
experiment was conducted testing two poles: a PMC
pole with E-glass Iibers (Pole A) and a PMC pole with
S-glass Iibers and a reinIorced center (Pole B).
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The
results oI the test (Figure 2) show a graph oI Ilexural
rigidity against distance along the pole. The graph
clearly shows an improvement on the Ilexural rigidity oI
the center oI the more modern Pole B.

Figure 2: The graph shows the Ilexural rigidity (N*m
2
) oI two
vaulting poles. Pole A, made in 1980, spans 4.5 m and Pole B was
made in 1995 and spans 5 m. On the x axis is the distance Irom the
edge oI the pole in meters.
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References
1. owStuIIWorks ow Pole Vaulting
Works HowStuffWorks - Learn How Everything
Works'Web. 26 Apr. 2011.
http://www.howstuIIworks.com/pole-vault.htm~.
2. Morlier, Julien, Mariano Cid, and Michel
Mesnard. !ole-Jaulting. Identification of the !ole
Local Bending Rigidities by an Updating Techniqu.
Journal oI Applied Biomechanics, 2008. EBSCOhost
S!ORTDiscus. Web. 25 Apr. 2011.
http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.lib.calpoly.edu/ ~.
3. Pole Vault. Redirect to Index !age. Web. 26 Apr.
2011. http://www.brianmac.co.uk/polevault/~.
4. Pole Vault. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia.
Web. 26 Apr. 2011.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polevault~.