Date of Award:
8-2020
Document Type:
Thesis
Degree Name:
Master of Science (MS)
Department:
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Committee Chair(s)
Barton L. Smith
Committee
Barton L. Smith
Committee
Douglas Hunsaker
Committee
Nicholas Roberts
Abstract
An experiment was conducted to investigate the effect that seams have on the way a baseball moves through the air. An examination of the airflow around a baseball led to the understanding that when seams are in certain areas on the baseball's surface the airflow changes. A subsequent experiment was performed which showed that when these changes in airflow were on one side of the baseball more than the other, the ball moved away from the side with the seams. This movement is in a different direction than the movement direction caused by a ball's spin. These experiments were done using balls moving at 90 mph and spinning at 1200 RPM, a baseball tracking system, and a highspeed camera.
Checksum
06f90887409c206ca4e1e84d812fd27f
Recommended Citation
Smith, Andrew W., "Pitched Baseballs and the Seam Shifted Wake" (2020). All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023. 7903.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/7903
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