The skeleton is a high-speed sport achieving speeds up to 130 km·h -1 on an ice track, but conditions for faster sliding have not been documented. This paper describes a theoretical model, an experiment and numerical modelling to evaluate the effect of air drag and runner stiffness. A mathematical model was determined for the forward motion of the skeleton down an angled straight ice track that included vertical motion to consider vibrations from a rough ice track. Numerical modelling results were compared with experimental tests performed at a bobsled push-start facility. The skeleton sliding time was logged at the start and end of a 23.7 m long ice track. The motion was registered by a portable accelerometer attached to the centre of mass on the skeleton base plate. Acceleration down the ice track axis was numerically integrated to calculate the speed and the distance with time. Numerical modelling showed that the speed increased linearly, and the 23.7 m were too short to see the effect of air drag and runner stiffness on the sliding time. Modelling results showed that despite faster sliding times at conditions of lower air drag, the runner started to vibrate earlier leading to less stable sliding conditions. A higher runner stiffness delayed the onset of vibration. Modelling not only showed conditions that could lead to faster sliding, but also predicted the stability of the skeleton slide, over a longer distance that is available at push-start facilities. Corpus ID: 55294137
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