Keywords

archery, carbon-fiber, composite bow, Nephi's Steel Bow, bamboo

Abstract

Archery is a sport that has benefited from thousands of years of development. Starting with primitive stick-bows, ancient people found they could propel projectiles larger distances and with more effectiveness than by hand or with other mechanical aids. Over the centuries different cultures adopted and advanced different aspects of the technology, including materials, geometry, and manufacturing methods. In the Mechanical Engineering Department at BYU, Nephi's Steel Bow Competition is held annually to challenge engineering students to test their knowledge of mechanics and materials. As a past participant in this competition, I felt building an advanced composite bow would be an ideal class project to fulfill the requirements of MFG 555. My design consists of a carbon fiber composite bow with a bamboo core, and relied heavily on ANSYS and Matlab optimization routines. I won the Grand Prize with my BamBow, with a distance of 67 yards. This report details my design and fabrication efforts.